LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ MSO PR) "After seven years off, these Brits bounce right back on 'Every Inch Of You,' the kickoff to Hot Cakes. Justin Hawkins cheekily tells his backstory: surviving on the dole till Led Zep changed his life, becoming 'an Englishman with a very high voice, doing rock & roll.' Hot Cakes stays amusing, mixing beer-barrel chuggers with proud schlock ballads. Sneakiest trick: going full-on metal…with a
Radiohead cover." -Chuck Eddy, ROLLING STONE (3/5-star album review, 8/21/12)
I wanted to be a doctor/I wanted to be a vet Until I heard 'Communication Breakdown' on a TDK D90 cassette. -Every Inch Of You, The Darkness
HOT CAKES, the highly anticipated third studio album from THE DARKNESS, is out now on Wind-up (North & South America) and PIAS (U.K. and rest of the world). Produced by the band's JUSTIN and DAN HAWKINS with long-time collaborator Nick Brine and mixed by Bob Ezrin, the album has garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reaction worldwide in its first week of release (see quotes below). HOT CAKES, has entered the British group's homeland chart at #4 (U.K.) and debuted higher than their previous albums in Japan, Australia, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland and Spain. The album debuted at #12 on Billboard's Top Rock Chart, #2 on the Hard Rock Chart in the U.S. and #43 on the Top 200 chart.
THE DARKNESS-JUSTIN HAWKINS (vocals/guitars), DAN HAWKINS (guitars/backing vocals), FRANKIE POULLAIN (bass) and ED GRAHAM (drums)-are currently in the midst of a worldwide tour supporting Lady Gaga. After a brief U.S. tour this past February and May, they'll return to the states for two specialone-night-only shows, Sunday, October 21 at Terminal 5 in New York City and Wednesday, October 24 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles before reuniting with Lady Gaga's Monster Ball in South America.
Watch the Paste magazine debut live performance of THE DARKNESS performing Radiohead's "Street
Spirit (Fade Out)" in Thetford Forest inEngland. In his album review for Paste, writer Mark Lore said, "Hot Cakes is the most varied record of The Darkness' canon-11 Killer-no-filler songsthat steer through the '70's and early '80's and veer from fist-pumping anthems to mid-tempo good-time rock, all with an ear for a killer pop hook" (8/21/12). The band's raucous interpretation of the song is featured on their new album HOT CAKES (see below). The clip can be viewed on PASTE here:https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2012/08/video-premiere-the-darkness-covers-radioheads-stre.html.
See all confirmed tour dates below, tickets are available now www.theactualdarkness.com
Critical praise so far for HOT CAKES:
"Hot Cakes just exudes fun. It seems to wipe away a period of discord during which the band broke up and its members started other projects. 'Nothin's Gonna Stop Us' has a feel-good 1980s rocking chorus and guitar solos you can imagine being played in atop a huge speaker in a stadium." -Sian Watson, ASSOCIATED PRESS (August 20, 2012)
"Simply: wow!" -CLASSIC ROCK Germany, 9/10 album review (Sept-Oct 2012)
"Justin Hawkins may be the face and attention-seizing voice of the Darkness, but the heart of their sound lies in his guitar playing, which offsets brother Dan's Angus Youngian raunch with the sort of rich, harmonic solos that Tom Scholz used to slather on
Boston records. And despite the band's love of heavy metal histrionics, Hot Cakes furthers the notion that the
Darkness are, in essence a very slick power-pop band, one that's as beholden to 'Peace of Mind as Piece of Mind." -Stuart Berman, PITCHFORK, (August 16, 2012)
"A powerful masterpiece after such a long time away! Welcome back!" -CROSSBEAT, Japan, 8/10 album review, (August 2012)
"Hot Cakes is the most varied record of The Darkness' canon-11 Killer-no-filler songs that steer through the '70's and early '80's and veer from fist-pumping anthems to mid-tempo good-time rock, all with an ear for a killer pop hook. Opener 'Every Inch Of You' is a battle cry for maximum-capacity arenas, and perhaps the true missing link between 1977 and 2012. …The band turns Radiohead's 'Street
Spirit (Fade Out)' (one they've been playing live for years) into a frenzied metal song, and easily the heaviest cut on the record." -Mark Lore, PASTE (7-out of-10 star album review, August 21, 2012)
"…Hot Cakes bulges with infectious melodies, blazing leads and strident riffing, Justin Hawkins' unmistakable falsetto adding pathos and silliness in equal measure. The best songs more than equal their biggest hits: the motoring pick-me-up of 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us,' feelgood anthem 'Everybody Have a Good Time' and majestic power ballads 'Living Each Day Blind' and 'Forbidden Love' are custom-built for remorseless radio play and may just enable The
Darkness to return to the arenas. An added bonus is the inclusion of their notorious demolition of Radiohead's 'Street
Spirit (Fade Out)' and, of course, the accompanying mental image of
Thom Yorke seething with impotent fury." -Dom Lawson, THE GUARDIAN (U.K.), 4/5 star album review, 8/16/12
"Seven years after they split up in a mess of rehab and band chaos, the eccentric rock/metal outfit is back with a vengeance. The Darkness' new album,Hot Cakes, is as raw and badass as their debut. Their first single, 'Everybody Have A Good Time,' resurrects the essence of their debut albumPermission to Land. It is ballsy; it is outrageous and a whole lot of fun." -Brenda Camberos, CAMPUS CIRCLE, (A- album review, August 22, 2012)
"Highlighted by wailing sex anthems ('Every Inch Of You'), pop-metal hooks ('Living Each Day Blind'), and a thrashing glam reinvention of Radiohead's 'Street
Spirit (Fade Out),' the album culls generously from the band's usual pool of influences-including flashy hair bands, Seventies hard rock and Queen." - Zach Schonfeld, ROLLING STONE, August 14, 2012
"Phenomenon of the month: The Darkness: brilliant! …the most surprising thing about these followers of Monty Python's humor is that they are musically fantastic. Justin's brilliant falsetto and his brother Dan's heavy guitars evoke a mix between
Led Zeppelin and Queen." -GLAMOUR, France, August 2012
"Hawkins and Co. have always been champs at penning solid, tuneful rock pop, and the group manages a small tackle-box worth of hooks here, ditching its second album's baroque (faux-?) pretensions to reboot its debut's uncluttered directness." -K. Ross Hoffman, MAGNET, August/September 2012
"The new single, 'Everybody Have a Good Time,' is another giddy glam-rock blast, all
Thin Lizzy bombast and T. Rex boogie. Let the good times roll, to characteristically hip-replacing excess." - Marc Hogan, SPIN (July 2012)
"This band is pure swagger, sweat and sex, blasting giant rock tunes that you're ready to hear again immediately after the album finishes. As usual, certain riffs reign supreme, from the rejuvenating 'She Just a Girl Eddie' to the propulsive 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us'…. … The
Darkness is back and still bitchin', writing more party rock anthems that make your night better, not worse." -Matt Pais, RED EYE (Chicago) 3 and ½ out of 4 star CD review, (August 15)
"This is one of those rare albums that offers undeniable proof that glam rock and the true essence of rock music-and perhaps maybe a little bit of campy humor-still thrive in dark corners of a diluted music industry. From the band's classic sound in 'Nothin's Gonna Stop Us' to a cover of Radiohead's 'Street
Spirit (Fade Out)', there are no doubts that The
Darkness are on a roll, and they're taking no prisoners. …as novel, splendid and beauteous as any of the band's previous work." -Adam O'Connor, REAL DETROIT WEEKLY, (8/23/12)
THE DARKNESS shows and Festivals 2012:
All dates below, with LADY GAGA, except*
Tue 8/14 Sofia, Bulgaria Vasil Levski
National Stadium
Thu 8/16 Bucharest, Romania Arena Nationala Stadium
Sat 8/18 Vienna, Austria Wiener Stadhalle
Tue 8/21 Vilnius, Lithuania Vingis Park
Thu 8/23 Riga, Latvia Mezaparks
Sat 8/25 Tallinn Tallinn Song Festival Grounds
Mon 8/27 Helsinki, Finland Hartwell Arena
Thu 8/30 Stockholm, Sweden Ericsson Globe
Sun 9/2 Copenhagen, Denmark Parken Stadium
Tue 9/4 Koln, Germany Lanxess Arena
Sat 9/8 London, UK Twickenham
Tue 9/11 Manchester, UK Evening News Arena
Sat 9/15 Dublin. Ireland Aviva Stadium
Mon 9/17 Amsterdam, Netherlands Ziggo Dome
Sat 9/22 Paris, France Stade de France
Mon 9/24 Hannover, Germany TUI Arena
Wed 9/26 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
Sat 9/29 Antwerp, Belgium Sportpaleis
Tue 10/2 Milan, Italy Mediolanum Forum
Thu 10/4 Nice, France Stade Charles-Ehrmann
Sat 10/6 Barcelona, Spain Palau St Jordi
*Sun 10/21 New York, NY Terminal 5 *HEADLINING
*Wed 10/24 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia *HEADLINING
Fri 10/26 Mexico City, Mexico Foro Sol
Tue 10/30 San Juan, Puerto Rico José
Miguel Agrelot Coliseum
Fri 11/9 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Parque dos Atletas
Sun 11/11 Sao Paulo, Brazil Estádio do Morumbi
Fri 11/16 Buenos Aires, Argentina Estadio River Plate
Tue 11/20 Santiago, Chile Estadio Nacional de Santiago.
