The Darkness
Permission To Land (Must Destroy)
As listeners worldwide re-embrace all things guitar axemen appear to have subdivided themselves along rough geographical lines.
The Scandinavians have discovered garage, already filled with Americans, the Antipodeans have decamped to the pub and the Japanese, as usual, are exploring a building of ill-defined purpose. Stadiums, it seems, have been left to the Brits to refill - and The Darkness seem happy to tackle the task singlehandedly. Permission To Land harks back to the days of spandex and mullets. A spirit of unapologetic heavy rock, distilled from Def Leppard, Queen and AC/DC, courses through the disc.
This is music as pure entertainment, best suited to a wall of Marshalls turned all the way up to 11.
Singles I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Growing On Me and Get Your Hands Off My Woman offer huge riffs, crashing drums and the exaggerated falsetto of Hawkins. Black Shuck and Love On The Rocks With No Ice, meanwhile, induce air-punching abandon, packed as they are with sing-along choruses and guitarist (Justin's brother) Dan Hawkins' infectious hooks.
