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The Darkness, Iggy and the Stooges Both Plotting (New) ‘Old-School’ Albums

darkness, stooges, iggy pop

Fans of U.K. glam metal and no-frills Detroit punk each have something to look forward to: new albums from the Darkness and the Stooges are on the way, according to reports.

Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins recently spoke with Billboard to confirm that the over-the-top quartet’s fourth full-length will see the light in 2014. “It’ll be out in 2014,” he said. “This year we’ll be touring [to support 2012’s Hot Cakes] and writing, then early 2014 we’ll hopefully be recording it or continuing to write it, and get it out later that year.” Hawkins added, “I think it’s important the next album comes out quickly.” Before last year’s release (which spawned singles “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us” and “Everybody Have a Good Time”), the Darkness went on a five-year hiatus, during which Hawkins and his brother, frontman Justin Hawkins, focused on other projects.

“[Hot Cakes] has been a great introduction to let people know we’re back,” the guitarist said. “Now we need to keep the output up.” When asked about what the next record would sound like, Hawkins couldn’t resist the ever-timely EDM swipe. “We could do our version of EDM,” he joked. “Really shit EDM.” He added, “I think we want to get even more old school. We want to make it even more of a performance record. We just want to be really brave and try to do something as live as humanly possible, warts and all. We’ve lost a bit of that in music today. It’s time to get a bit of character in there, so we’ll be going for something as fucking Route 1 as possible.”

Another on-again, off-again group heading back to basics? The Stooges. HitFix reports that the proto-punk icons have finished their Notorious B.I.G.-biting fifth album, Ready to Die. Producer Ed Cherney — who previously worked with head Stooge Iggy Pop on his 1990 album, Brick By Brick — said that he just wrapped mixing on the band’s follow-up to 2007’s The Weirdness. “It’s old-time Stooges,” Cherney shared. “It’s raw. They’re great songs, but not necessarily big choruses. They’re the anti-christ of anthems.”

Cherney described the record’s lyrics as “very timely,” saying, “[Iggy Pop] knows what he wants to say. He’s watching the world around him.” Song titles include the headlines-informed “I Got a Job But it Don’t Pay Shit” and “Gun.”

Stooges guitarist James Williamson produced Ready to Die at San Francisco’s Fantasy Studios, while Iggy reportedly did all his vocal work at a studio in Miami. The upcoming effort is the first to feature Williamson’s guitar since the group’s 1973 life-changing classic, Raw Power. He reunited with the Stooges after the 2009 death of founding guitarist Ron Asheton. The new LP features drumming from Asheton’s brother, founding member Scott Asheton, and bass from Minutemen co-founder Mike Watt, who has performed with the Stooges since they reformed in 2003. Ready to Die doesn’t have a release date yet, but at least Iggy’s washed ashore.