Anna managed to get a copy of the debut CD from The Darkness past my own personal USPS thief (not local but in the Portland depot). She has been the first to get me a CD in about the last 6 months; my review games are going walkies, too.

Her timing is impeccable; today I blogged that The Darkness' CD is going to be released in the US this month, instead of the previously planned early 2004. It is possible the label looked at import sales and decided there is a market in the US.

Anyway, first impressions: I expected the sound to be a lot fatter than it is. Several reviewers and pundits compared the band favourably to Def Leppard and Queen. The sound is a bit more indy than either of those bands and is not as multi-track produced as it could have been. The lead singer sounds a bit like a combination of Jeff Lynde and Robert Smith of The Cure with a bit of Bolan for good measure. His voices squeeks and yelps in a most interesting way, but the trick is that it freaking works. Many of the tracks are catchy as stink. The one thing that is great about this release is that it is really not like anything out there on the charts in either the US or the UK. Instead of navel-gazing boring angst or bland pop punk, it's got a nice edge of originality.

This is a great debut album, and one that is not too good that it will be hard to top. I would love to see what Mutt Lange (if he can keeps his hands off his wife Shania for a month or so) or Bob Rock could do with this lot. They could easily become the T-Rex of the 0's. For me that would not be a bad thing.

Of course, the most telling thing is that I have listened to this 10 track affair once through and am listening to it again. One wonders whether or not the band's label, Atlantic, will give the US public a bonus track or two for having to wait.