Rock is a far more diverse genre than it often gets credit for. If you want proof, look no further than our friends from the U.K. and Ireland.
There are a bunch of very popular bands in the U.K. and Ireland that just haven’t taken off in the States for one reason or another. One of those bands is The Darkness, whose debut album, Permission to Land, turns 20 today (July 7) In the States, the LP is best known for its wild single “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” but the album also boasts killer tracks like “Black Shuck,” “Get Your Hands off My Woman,” “Growing on Me” and “Love Is Only a Feeling.”
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The Darkness followed Permission to Land with 2005’s One Way Ticket to Hell…and Back, which doubles down on the glam and, perhaps, was just too English and cheeky for most American audiences. Like Permssion to Land, the album still contains a bunch of bangers, like the title track, “Knockers” and “Is It Just Me?”
Sadly, The Darkness fell into the usual trappings of rock stardom. Singer Justin Hawkins went to rehab for drug and alcohol issues in 2006, which led to the band going on a five-year hiatus that saw them pursue other projects. In 2011, they would reform. The following year, they dropped their third studio album Hot Cakes, which contains the biographical song “Every Inch of You” that still slaps more than a decade later.
Since then, they’ve released four additional studio albums and continue to carry the torch for glam rock in a way few other bands really have.
Of course, there are plenty of other bands that, like The Darkness, should really be given another look by American rock fans. Keep scrolling to see which other acts you should check out sooner than later that Americans just don’t seem to “get.”
