The Darkness
… Suddenly, the minions of rock united, overcome by a sheen of axe-yielded glory and frightfully long hair. The Darkness were born – and had come to make your daughters gag and retch...
Or so the dramatic end of it would sound. But there’s little denying the palpable influence that Lowestoft, Suffolk’s Justin and Dan Hawkins would grow to possess.
Guitarists of the classic sense – where Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and Queen are, er, king - the Hawkins’ plight of non-pretence songcraft begun under the wing of a covers-band, followed by prog-rock outfit, Empire – as inclusive of mysterious, Scots bassist Frankie Poullain. The project fared unsuccessfully, with Justin advisably kicking out the lead-singer of the time, over preference of a ‘heavier’ sound. But who would front the new incarnation? Fate would soon dish out a precious, unanticipated card to designate the answer.
At their Aunt’s pub back in rural Norfolk, on a Millennium’s Eve, Justin performed a blistering karaoke-rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The pub would have ignited, if it weren’t for the lack of spontaneous-combustion. But the response was still rousing. And enough to convince brother Dan that their frontman was perhaps closer at bay than once anticipated.
So, the trio reformed – this time with ex-flatmate, drummer Ed Graham, and Justin as vocalist. Christened The Darkness, then followed two years of relative obscurity, touring every North London dinge-hole in the circuit. Yet, a buzz eventually spread, and the release via Must Destroy Records of the band’s perennial debut-45, ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ got the media and radio talking. Before long, the entire country was up in arms over ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’ – the group’s second single, which narrowly missed the top-40, despite no formal industry-campaign to its name other than fan-hype.
The record-scouts at every major-label fawned – and, soon, the band were snapped up by Atlantic Records for a six-figure sum. Deal: signed, dusted. The next single – ‘Growing On Me’ – entered at number 11 in the charts. The first album – ‘Permission To Land’ – floated into the top-ten at #2, where it would soon hover for weeks on end before recently claiming the prestigious number-one spot, and a Mercury Awards nomination.
An autumn tour of 2003 selling out months in advance – in the vast region of 5,000 capacity venues – the next plans are overseas. And, f**king hell. Whoever saw all this coming? Seemingly, only the band themselves. Theirs is an inspirational tale of endurance paying off. Big time.
OFFICIAL SITE: Complete with a non-ironic domain-name, thedarknessrock.com is the essential first-stop for all things long-haired and geetar-swaggering.
MUST DESTROY MUSIC: Examine the home-page of the UK-indie that spawned this frivolous sensation - complete with a roster of similar rawking acts: Ten Benson, The (International) Noise Conspiracy et al...