Justin Hawkins Buys New, Unreleased Darkness Record Online To Snag Seller

It seems that The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins is just as desperate as we are to withhold the release of his band's newest CD.

But while we at ChartAttack discourage people from listening to wannabe-metal Brits by writing scathingly honest reviews of their music, Hawkins preferred to pay a "character" who was illegally selling a copy of the album on eBay Australia.

BBC News reports Hawkins paid over 300 pounds (about $700 Canadian) for an advanced copy of The Darkness' second album, One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back, that somehow found itself on Australian eBay.

The CD was sent to industry folk ahead of its release later this month. So concerned was Hawkins about stopping an Internet leak that he bought the album — and he has a message for the misguided soul who auctioned it off.

"It's encoded so we'll have a name and a number — so we'll know which disc it is, who distributed it and who they distributed it to. And that person is going to go down. He is either going to get some sort of legal intervention or he certainly won't receive an album from our record company ever again."

Though the seller certainly has questionable taste in music, what he did technically isn't illegal. An eBay spokesperson said the online auction site doesn't "specifically prohibit" reselling advance CDs.

One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back is the follow-up to 2003's Permission To Land. It will permeate record stores beginning November 28. Consider yourself warned.