The Darkness - 'Permission to Land' (Must Destroy) Released 07/07/03

'Mmmm mock rock', was the response of 'Whispering' Bob Harris as he recovered from seeing the New York Dolls tear the BBC 2 studios apart back in '73. God knows what he would have made of the Darkness. The debate surrounding this group of young men who so dutifully carry on the Doll's penchant for spandex and cowboy hats will only continue with the release of this unashamedly ridiculous album. Of course it was only a matter of time before the poodle rockin', groupie shagging, one armed drumming sound of '86 was resurrected. If Girls Aloud are now wearing MC5 T-shirts than frankly we're getting off lightly. But hey that's enough my cynicism - let's rock!

All credit to the Darkness their joke is a funny one and they have the good grace to dress it with fine tunes. 'Growing On Me' features one of the pop moments of the year in Justin Hawkin's passionate falsetto and it's hard not to grin stupidly at 'Bluck Shuck's' Marillion influenced mystic language : 'In a town in the east / The parishioners were visited upon by a curious beast.' 'Friday Night' even manages to be more than a little touching with its tales of after school activities and unrequited love. However, the novelty soon fades like a pair of stone washed jeans with 'Love On the Rocks with No Ice' taking things a cliché too far and 'Holding My Own' sounding worryingly like Thunder. All power to the Darkness though. They straddle the worlds of Spinal Tap and G'n'R with something approaching aplomb and their fine use of the word '****' in 'Get Your Hands Off My Women' is worth the admission price alone. Now if they can just stop their drummer exploding their world could be theirs.