Hot Cakes

Hot Cakes, the third album, came out first in Japan, on 15 August 2012 from Hostess Entertainment (HSE-30292). PIAS released it in Britain on 20 August (PIASR305CD) and Wind-up in the Americas on the 21st; the master belongs to the band's own company, Canary Dwarf. The four original members, Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain and Ed Graham, had announced their reunion in March 2011, as BBC Newsbeat reported, and returned on the main stage of the Download festival that June (Blabbermouth); in October they were back in Japan for LOUD PARK 11. Justin and Dan produced it with their long-time collaborator Nick Brine (NME), and Bob Ezrin mixed it (Blabbermouth). Justin said it had a raw feel like the first album with occasional luxurious moments like the second, that half of it was old-school AC/DC guitar rock, and that some of it was more extreme metal (NME). Radiohead's "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" had been a live favourite for years, and the band wanted a definitive recording of their version. "Cannonball", with Ian Anderson on flute, was voted down to a bonus track, as Dan told Prog. The band trailed the album in February 2012 by giving away "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us" with a video, and the official first single was "Everybody Have a Good Time". It reached number 4 in Britain, number 1 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart, 43 on the Billboard 200 and 50 on Oricon. The Japanese edition adds the same four bonus tracks as the deluxe edition. The running order here is the original's as printed.