Pitchfork

Radiohead this, Flaming Lips that. Who gives a shit? While those dudes are busy tinkering and toiling away in the studio, the true saviors of rock and/or roll-- the Darkness-- have completed their eagerly anticipated sophomore album, the awesomely titled One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back. FUCK YEAH.

According to the NME, the album's lead single, "One Way Ticket", will be released in the UK on November 14, followed by the album two weeks later on November 28. The track titles seem pretty straightforward, except for "Dinner Lady Arms". We can't figure out what that means, but I'll be damned if "Knockers" ain't about boobs. ***EDITOR'S NOTE: Several Pitchfork readers have written in to inform us that "dinner lady" means "lunch lady" in British. So I guess that song is about somebody with arms like a lunch lady. Gross.*** Other tracks include "Hazel Eyes" (an answer song to Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes", perhaps?) and "Girlfriend", which is probably about-- you guessed it!--somebody's girlfriend. Isn't speculation grand?

Unfortunately for fans of the band's original lineup, Permission to Land's bassist Frankie Poullain was sacked earlier this year, and he doesn't play a note on the new record (guitarist Dan Hawkins laid down the low end in the studio.) But don't fret, because Hawkins' guitar tech Richey Edwards was recently named the Darkness' new bassist.

>>Tracklist:
01 One Way Ticket
02 Knockers
03 Is It Just Me?
04 Dinner Lady Arms
05 Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
06 Hazel Eyes
07 Bald
08 Girlfriend
09 English Country Garden
10 Blind Man

Meanwhile, frontman Justin Hawkins' solo debut, tentatively titled British Wail, is due several months after the Darkness record. That album is slated to feature "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", a Sparks cover. We hope the "both of us" in this context refers to Hawkins and his penis.

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/05.shtml#darkness">The Darkness Replace Bassist, Plan LP