Hot Cakes

Perhaps nobody expected the band to ever match the giddy, karate-kick high of Permission to Land, but the group's comeback album, Hot Cakes, is definitely worthy of throwing more than a few devil horns the band's way. While the Darkness have always reveled in the hedonistic clichés of heavy metal, at their core they are a pop band, capable of delivering some of the catchiest, most expertly crafted radio-ready singles this side of ABBA. For every AC/DC blues-rock, crotch-thrusting groove on Hot Cakes -- and there are a few -- there are just as many sparklingly slick, sugar-coated laser-beam melodies that light up the happy place in your brain. The beauty of the Darkness' approach is that their pop side and cock rock side pretty much come from the same inclination: get listeners moving. In that sense, this album will continue to draw the band well-earned comparisons to Queen -- which speaks mainly to the band's songwriting and musicianship.