No Rock And Roll Fun

UM...DERCOVER: We're a little bit puzzled at Undercover's coverage of the Darkness going Gold in the US. The Australian music site dismisses the certification on the basis that the band have only had half a million copies of Permission To Land shipped to stores, but has so far only sold just over 300,000. And your point, Undercover, would be - what, exactly? Since the Gold, Platinum and other certifications are given as a recognition not of sales (that would be the chart) but of orders placed by retail outlets, in what way would the announcement of Gold be "premature"? Even more oddly, the report mutters that "units unsold are always returned back to the label but the certification is never adjusted" before conceeding that, erm, The Darkness are on route to sell half a million copies in the next month or so. Now, we're not about to suggest that cynicism is bad, but this is on a par with moaning that a venue claims a gig to be a sell out before we see if all the ticket holders actually turn up on the night.