I'm sort of ashamed to admit it, but I just really discovered The Darkness this past week (yes, I realize I'm about five years too late).  I've been very familiar with a few of their singles for quite some time, but only recently did I really sit down and give their two albums (Permission To Land and One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back) a very serious listening-to.  After playing the albums about five times each in the past three days at work (which caused quite a significant drop in productivity), I have come to the conclusion that The Darkness is not only the name of one of the best fucking rock bands to ever exist, but also the state that music is in, now that they are gone.  I didn't realize how good it could be!

I won't go into a full-fledged review (especially since we already have one), but The Darkness really knew how to crank out some mother fucking rock and roll; literally, their music would actually violate your mother.  When I think of The Darkness, I think of really fantastic guitar solos, catchy melodies that stay in your head, sincerely entertaining and well-written lyrics, and an out-of-this-world falsetto flambagast* leading the charge.  Even the drumming (which was accentuated a lot more in the second album) is spot on.

The Darkness's flame was extremely bright but, sadly, extremely short-lived.  During the recording of their second album, their bassist (Frankie Poullain) left the band.  To be fair, he claims he was kicked out, but either way, it was the beginning of the end.  Frankie was replaced by Richie Edwards, a guitar tech for the band.  A few months after the release of the album (which inexplicably did not do nearly as well as their first album), lead singer Justin Hawkins was admitted to rehab for his alcohol and cocaine addictions, which had gotten out of control (as opposed to all those people who keep their cocaine addiction in complete control).  Hawkins later revealed that he had spent £150,000 (about $300,000) in three years on cocaine.  That gives some new insight into the lyrics for "One Way Ticket", now doesn't it?

With Justin gone, the three remaining members shuffled things around a bit - Edwards (the tech-turned-bassist) took on the role of lead vocals, while long-time friend Toby MacFarlaine took over bass.  The band renamed themselves Stone Gods and released an EP (Burn The Witch) and an album (Silver Spoons & Broken Bones), which apparently was critically acclaimed and gushed over by many a rock reviewer.  I may have to "obtain" the album and hear this for myself.  In the meantime, I found one of the singles and actually wasn't that impressed by it:



Their sound has definitely changed a lot from the glam rock that was The Darkness.  Stone Gods has a more British punk feel and Edwards's scratchy voice is a far cry from the soaring falsetto that I'm so used to hearing.

Over the past few months, drummer Ed Graham has been missing due to "medical issues", causing the band to cancel tour dates and find others to fill in (including ex-Bush drummer Robin Goodridge).  Eventually the band announced that Graham was gone permanently, leaving guitarist Dan Hawkins as the only original member of The Darkness still left.

So what has Justin been up to?  It seems that he's been doing a lot of "odd jobs" here and there in the past few years, collaborating on songs with others or writing his own solo stuff.  However, this past year has brought some exciting news - his new band Hot Leg has recorded an album and is currently touring England.  The album won't be available until early next year, but if you hop across the pond within the next month, you'll be able to catch a live Hot Leg performance.  Their first single "Trojan Guitar" was actually released about two weeks ago:



Hot Leg sounds a lot more like The Darkness than Stone Gods does, which is interesting considering that the instrumentalists are all different and Justin is the only common link.  Based on the singles alone, I think I would be much more interested in seeing Hot Leg than Stone Gods.  Hot Leg's MySpace page doesn't mention anything about a tour of the States, but one can always hope.

So there you have it.  I'll have to give the Stone Gods album a listen and Hot Leg seems like it could be pretty sweet, but I have a feeling I'll just be queuing up those old Darkness albums and putting them on repeat for years to come.



* Don't bother looking up "flambagast" - I just made it up.  It means "one who is utterly and irreparably flamboyant".