There’s a scene in an early Bill Murray movie where, dressed in a full clown costume yet with his trademark deadpan expression, he carries out an armed robbery at a bank. What kind of clown is he, wonders the manager? The kind, replies Bill, who cries on the inside.
Listening to The Darkness’ second album comes close to that kind of experience. On the surface One Way Ticket To Hell….And Back is more of the same, with added whistles and bells. Yet dig a little deeper and it’s quite different from Permission To Land. Actually, there isn’t that far to dig, for as the pan pipes introduction fades (yes, pan pipes) the next sound you hear is of the cutting and snorting of cocaine, leading into the ‘my drug hell’ rock bluster of the title track.
Despite the big guitars, big chorus and witty one-liners, this is a long way from the cheeky chappy, thumbs-up image of The Darkness that we’ve come to expect. The mood never lifts. ‘Knockers’, ‘Is It Just Me?’, ‘Dinner Lady Arms’ – the song titles may be chucklesome, but the lyrics are of an overtly melancholic bent, reflecting that life in the fast lane isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Yet just as Justin Hawkins has become (incredibly) more introverted, the music has headed in the opposite direction, aided no doubt by the production skills of Roy Thomas Baker. The thing is, for all his extravagant touches here and there (and Queen fans will find much to notice), Permission To Land still feels like the bigger record of the two, where the ambition and energy of the band far outstripped their budget and technology. The effect here works in reverse, suggesting that buried amongst all this sheen is a bunch of blokes whose hearts maybe aren’t in it quite as much as they used to be.
One original member down and a solo project already undertaken, the lack of a tour to support this release suggests that Justin, for one, might be losing the appetite to squeeze into that catsuit again. They’ve been fun to have around, but this might just be the start of The Darkness’s fade to black.