Back in black (continued)

Official vindication came this past February in the form of three big wins at the Brit Awards: best album, best British group, and best British rock act. It can’t help but seem a bit amusing to Poullain and the rest of the band. "Ninety percent of the people who are now giving us pats on the back in the UK were ridiculing us and being really nasty or dismissive about us in the early days. We definitely changed people’s opinions."

There’s plenty to find ridiculous about the Darkness, from Justin’s outlandish unitards to "Black Shuck," the disc-opening screamer about a one-eyed hellhound. But there are also elements of the sublime. It’s worth noting that the opening riff of the amped-up "Take Your Hands off My Girlfriend" (the disc’s second song) sounds an awful lot like the main hook in Urge Overkill’s "Sister Havana." Or that the amusing double entendre implied in the title of "Growing on Me," a tender rocker that could be about a girl or a certain venereal disease, wouldn’t have been out of place in the Nash Kato songbook a decade ago. And it’s not as if there weren’t a large dose of overkill in Urge’s choice of attire and the classic-rock guitar churn of 1993’s Saturation.

The Darkness also aren’t the first British band to flaunt their fondness for the twin towers of hard-rock heaviness, Zeppelin and AC/DC. The Cult went from being a college-radio band on 1985’s Love to worshipping at the cock-rock altar on their 1987 Rick Rubin–produced mainstream breakthrough, Electric (Sire). Does anybody remember the laughter that accompanied "Love Removal Machine?"

Of course, timing is everything when it comes to genre revivals. Both the Cult and Urge Overkill had the benefit of cutting against the prevailing trends of the time. And the Darkness are certainly in that same boat. But it would be wrong to assume that Permission To Land is a contrived album: it takes commitment to one’s art to weather being laughed off stage for a year or two. And though the Darkness do have sense of humor about themselves, their real appeal lies in the songs, which aren’t mere parodies or genre pieces. There are elements of Zeppelin in the way "Love Is Only a Feeling" segues from the mandolin-flavored folk of the verse to the domineering power chords of the chorus, and the blooze-rock flavor of "Givin’ Up" (as in "Givin’ up/Givin’ up/Givin’ a fuck") may be equal parts Kiss and Guns N’ Roses. But like any real rock album with legs, Permission To Land is more than the sum of its borrowed parts.

"There are so many ways to get this kind of music wrong," Poullain reflects. "First and foremost, you have to have a great love for it. Then to be a really credible hard-rock band, you have to have at least one virtuoso guitar player. We like to think we have two. And a charismatic frontman: check. And, obviously, the tunes, the ambition, the ability to enjoy yourself, the showmanship, the exhibitionism. The funny thing is that we have all these things and yet people are still so skeptical.

"I mean, when people look at us, they think a band like us can’t have well-crafted songs. But we’re able to embrace the ridiculous side of things and yet also take great care and pride in our songs. If you’re going to play 200-250 shows a year, then there has to be some kind of depth to the songs. Our songs all have heartfelt sentiments. Even the one about the one-eyed hellhound. And that’s probably the most ridiculous or silly song on the album. But ‘Love Is Only a Feeling’ is definitely a heartfelt song. And ‘Growing on Me’ is quite heartfelt too. And definitely ‘Givin’ Up’ is a personal song. They’re not songs about fast cars and loose women and getting wasted on Jack Daniel’s. I don’t think we’re that kind of cliché ’80s metal. We embrace the AC/DC work ethic. They’re obviously the tightest, hardest, heaviest band of all time, and we aspire to that."

In the end, though, even Poullain concedes that the ’70s and ’80s are equally to blame for the Darkness. "It has a lot to do with the chemistry between Justin and Dan. Justin is the ’80s metal guy and Dan is the ’70s hard-rock man. And then, you know, Ed likes stuff that’s quite primitive and edgy. I like Prince and Kate Bush — mavericks, I suppose. But the chemistry comes together with all the different personalities. We don’t do anything unless we’re all enjoying it. We’re just not into the pretentious side of things. As I said, we’re really all quite down-to-earth people."

The Darkness appear with opening band the Wildhearts this Saturday, April 3, at Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street in Boston, and this Sunday, April 4, at Lupo’s at the Strand, 79 Washington Street in Providence. Both shows are officially sold out.