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The
Darkness - Permission To Land
[1] Black
Shuck
[2] Get Your
Hands Off My Woman
[3] Growing
On Me
[4] I Believe
In A Thing Called Love
[5] Love
Is Only A Feeling
[6] Givin’
Up
[7] Stuck
In A Rut
[8] Friday
Night
[9] Love
on The Rocks With No Ice
[10]Holding
My Own
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| When you hear
the word Lowestoft, you immediately think of quaint suburbia, retired
couples, bungalows and local shops for local people. Ask music fans
in six months about Lowestoft and they'll say it's the birthplace
of The Darkness, perhaps the most unlikely place for a spandex-wearing,
elaborate soloing, big-chorus Stadium Rock group in the UK. |
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Having
seen these guys at the Robbie Williams Knebworth gig, I can truly say
one thing: they are destined for greatness. On stage in front of 120,000
fans, they were unphased, determined and most importantly of all, excellent.
In three years' time The Darkness should be headlining gigs like this.
Be
under no false pretences; the Darkness have one song, but it's a bloody
good one. On first listen, bar a couple of exceptions Permission to
Land seems samey. However, you cannot help but be taken in by the sheer
good-nature of it all and ultimately in the world of impeccably dressed,
scruffy haired bands, they come as a breath of fresh air. On this record,
big solos, big hair and big hooks come in abundance. And you'll love
every minute of it.
It starts
off promisingly with the amusing 'Black Shuck', a song all about
a huge supernatural dog that terrorises East Anglian Church goers
in the 18th Century (no really). This sets the pace superbly,
and is ultimately what The Darkness are all about. They don't
take themselves too seriously, and know how to belt out a decent
tune.
After the
comical, Spinal Tap-esque, 'Black Shuck', you have the triple
whammy of 'Get Your Hands Off My Woman', 'Growing On Me' and 'I
Believe In A Thing Called Love'. All are excellent songs and are
worthy singles to be taken off the album. 'Get Your Hands...'
is one of the harder rocking songs off the album, with a notable
AC/DC feel in comparison to the ever present, overbearing Queen
influence elsewhere on the record. It's a rollicking tune, a real
fist pumper if you will. 'Growing On Me' is a superb, superb,
superb record. It is arguably the finest track on there, and hints
at the quality of tunes The Darkness will hopefully be writing
down the line. If they write more of these, they needn't worry
about their shelf life. '...Thing Called Love' is a resolutely
Queen affair, and perhaps the weakest of the trio, yet is still
an excellent pop song. A great testament to the band's ability.
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Elsewhere,
there are thoughtful ballads ('Love Is Only A Feeling'), comical lyrics
('Friday Night') and big choruses ('Love On The Rocks With No Ice'),
all adding a pseudo-depth to the affair. Whilst you really want to like
the latter songs, you can't help but feel that although there are some
good moments on there, it does trail off a little after the excellent
first half. By no means is the second half bad, it just isn't as engaging
as the first. Tracks like 'Givin Up' and 'Stuck In A Rut' saunter along
at a fair old pace but fail to truly rock the listener that many of
the other tracks do.
All
in all, this is a very good album. The pacing could have been better,
but weighing in at ten tracks, it is a manageable, easy listen and makes
a nice change from many of the current 'The' bands on the market. A
good album with great promise.
Mike
Short
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