The Darkness – Last Of Our Kind CD (Canary Dwarf)
Well, well, well. I thought we’d heard the last of The Darkness as a musical force especially after vocalist Justin Hawkin’s rather poor showing in Eurovision, but like the predicable phoenix metaphor they have indeed risen from the flames to produce a damn fine slice of Rock, which in all honesty matches the exuberance of their debut album. Maintaining some of the bands most obvious trademarks (Hawkin’s falsetto vocals and hook ridden guitar riffs) they kick off proceedings with the deliciously OTT and tongue in cheek ‘Barbarian’ – very much in the vein of ‘Black Shuck’ or ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’. The band go all ‘Love’ era Cult on ‘Open Fire’ whilst again retaining that element of humour that cannot help but bring a smile to the lips. Working to the old adage that ‘if it ain’t broken don’t fix it’ Last Of Our Kind’ retains the anthemic sound and big choruses of the bands earlier songs, alternating between hard rockers and ballads (indeed the title track’s chorus has Eurovision stamped all over it), while injecting a few shots of something new into the mix (the above Cult reference or the almost grungy ‘Roaring Waters’ for example). Ten tracks – not a dud among them. Good to see you back in the game gents. Ian Pickens