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| From | "Billy G. Spradlin" <bgspradlin@cablelynx.com> |
| Subject | Re: Americans Just Don't Get It... |
| Date | Mon, 02 Feb 2004 08:59:47 -0600 |
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I think a few Americans are "getting it" - the CD made some big strides
peaking
at 39 on Billboard, but fell back to 55 last week. The single is doing
great on
active rock radio and Atlantic is now pushing it for CHR. They have a club
tour in the next two months and are playing Trees in Dallas April 12. I
hope to
go and see if they are "for real" or not.
To me, the Darkness are a band with a sense of humour with some gimmicks
tossed
in for fun in the way Queen, Cheap Trick and AC/DC were in thier prime. Joke
bands usually have poor musicanship and the gag gets old after a few songs.
The
Darkness are fine musicians (killer guitar solos), and Justin's lyrics have
the
same lyrical humor that Rick Nielsen, Bon Scott, Steven Tyler and David Lee
Roth had in thier prime. Wether the Darkness can back off on the gimmicks and
evolve into a original sound like Areosmith, Def Leppard and Queen did while
continuing to make fine singles and keep thier audiance will be the challenge.
I heard one rumor on the band's message base that Bob Ezrin who produced the
Xmas single is slated to produce the follow-up album.
I was watching MTV's music clash last week where they pitted Jet vs The
Darkness and it was a tight race to the end - Darkness won out by 3 points.
Even if they fizzle out quickly I have to respect them for attempting to put
some fun back into a gloomy rock-grunge-metal scene I ignored for years. That
they exploded and took the UK by storm is a miracle from God (or the Devil,
take your pick).
Billy
At 11:52 AM 2/1/2004 -0800, you wrote:
>Being a fan of the Darkness (and American) I was intrigued by an article by
Chuck Klosterman in the latest issue of SPIN that delves into the reasons the
Darkness are Britains' biggest band (1 in every 100 brits owns their latest LP
"Permission to Land") and how the band can barely break the top 200 in the
U.S.
His theories..at least in my mind point to power pop as well: Americans
like to
rock...but have a hard time laughing at the same time. I can't tell you how
many people brush the Darkness off as a "joke band"...or
>"the next Spinal Tap",,,etc. Yeah, they're goofy as hell...but at the end of
the day, they're a damn serious ROCK band! Does America like dirty, noisy,
angular, brash rock beacuse we can't feel uplifted at the same time we rock
out? It's interesting to think about this cultural difference. I don't get
America's mainstream choices. I "get" The Darkness...completely. Should I move
to the UK? Anyone else care to chime in on this one?
>
>Jeff
>
Billy G. Spradlin
http://listen.to/jangleradio
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