I’m still not sure what caused The Darkness to disband, but if it was so Justin Hawkins could start his own vanity project, it may well backfire on him.

Let me start by saying that I had a lot of love for Hawkins as part of The Darkness, but I’m not sure he can transition to being a serious artist in his own right or as part of another band.

And that brings me neatly to Hot Leg…

It’s clearly a vehicle for Justin to peddle his music – the first thing you’re told on the official website:

Hot Leg is a brand new musical group featuring Justin ‘Dave’ Hawkins, former lead singer/lead guitarist/lead songwriter of The Darkness. Hot Leg are an entirely hairier beast, and they make really really brilliant rock music.

Have a listen to Hot Leg’s music on MySpace. It’s not bad as rock goes, but everytime Hawkins launches into a falsetto, I’m immediately transported back to I Believe In A Thing Called Love, and I’m not sure whether this new act is a serious band or a continuation of the clever spoof-rock that he introduced us to way back when.

Back in August, Simon Price of The Independent caught a Hot Leg gig and wrote rave reviews of it. He frothed:

To see a born entertainer and shameless crowd-pleaser like Justin Hawkins on a stage again is an absolute joy.

I’d truly love to see Justin come back fighting, but at the moment, he needs to work on his presence and perhaps re-establish his relevance in the world of rock.

And if he’s serious about carving a future with Hot Leg, he might want to invest a little more in his band’s website. It looks cheap as hell. But considering how he’s flip-flopped from project to project since disbanding The Darkness, maybe he’s not planning on hanging around.

Thoughts from the floor?