No Rock And Roll Fun

OUR OTHER NEW FAVOURITE BAND FOR TODAY: The Darkness are, of course, so much already the toast of London town with their naked chests and sexrock that they've jumped the entire rest of the country and are already being smeared over parts of America with their infectious and delicious sound. For our part, all we can do is look at the pictures, eat lots of ice cream and pretend that our numb tongue is really theirs... and listen. For they're one of the bands on the Play Louder singles club. This might be the first glimpse at the next stage in the legal new music download world. Up till now, yer Get Out Theres, Vitaminics and MP3.coms have been happy to provide a massive pile of largely undistinguished and indistinguishable tracks, working on the hope that you'd come to hear your mate's technogoober and you'd stay for the Chimps With Bells disco-rock. The effect was not unlike shopping in Ikea - you'd have an idea of what you were after, but to get it you'd spend ages wandering through featureless warehouses for hours with nothing to guide you. The Singles Club addresses the feeling of isolation by doing something more than offering a genre style heading as a way to explore their delights. A first step, but even a hike to the decent toilets at Glastonbury starts with one of those.