Motorheart The Darkness Artist

Months after the release of their presciently titled sixth album, {|Easter Is Cancelled|}, the holiday was indeed put on hold by a global pandemic and {|the Darkness|}, along with the rest of the world, entered lockdown. During the ensuing quarantine... Read more

Months after the release of their presciently titled sixth album, {|Easter Is Cancelled|}, the holiday was indeed put on hold by a global pandemic and {|the Darkness|}, along with the rest of the world, entered lockdown. During the ensuing quarantine, the quartet recorded another album, the quick burst of {|Motorheart|}. Inspired by {|AC/DC|} and {|Guns N' Roses|}, the set also makes nods to {|Van Halen|} and {|Moetley Cruee|}, packed to the brim with riffs and the band's signature brand of winking humor. A slim nine tracks, it doesn't dwell on anything deeper than base desires or simple pleasures, providing a fun and bombastic release that plays on their strengths as technically proficient but debauched jesters of the U.K. rock world. Standouts include the monstrous Motorheart, an arena-imploding ode to a sex robot; the rollicking Nobody Can See Me Cry; and the synth-washed groover Speed of the Nite Time, a nice change of pace for the band that finds them taking a more polished approach to their '80s worship. The rest of the set doesn't stray too much from the formula: even when the bagpipes show up on Welcome Tae Glasgae, {|Motorheart|} is all riffs and falsetto screams designed to forget reality and dream of crowds packed with headbanging, beer-soaked hedonists singing along to the same songs. ~ Neil Z. Yeung Less