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Wig Wam — Out Of The Dark (Frontiers)

Wig Wam bam, thank you mam.

The original Spandex-clad tepee is back!

Fans have been on tenterhooks waiting for this record to drop.

And buoyed by some big name superhero backing, Norway’s premier party rockers never sounded better.

When DC Comics icon Peacemaker (played by wrestling superstar John Cena) landed his own show last year who knew hair metal would be the winner?

WigWam’s Do Ya Wanna Taste It was the name on everyone’s lips as the HBO series’ thunderous theme tune.

And on creator James Gunn’s retro-flavoured cheese board — featuring Faster Pussycat, The Quireboys, Vain, Firehouse and more — frontman Glam and co. were the perfect first course.

Conscious of keeping the pot boiling, Out Of The Dark is WigWam’s typically flamboyant response to that first flush of Hollywood fame.

It’s bursting with glittery goodness from start to finish.

And fanboy Gunn must be rubbing is hands with glee that Peacemaker prompted WigWam to push the boat out on the band’s follow-up to comeback classic Never Say Die.

Make no mistake, this is an album brimful with barmy ambition.

It’s on a dizzying par with 2010’s career high Non Stop Rock N Roll.

And not for the first time WigWam use every glam metal trick in the book to ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ their fans back to 1986.

Originality has never been the band’s trump card.

But the jokers in the pop rock pack pitch their records just right — mining the past and celebrating the present to create a diamond-studded mix of dance-ready riffs.

Perhaps we should have Cena it coming…

…but thanks to Peacemaker, the wonderful WigWam are Out Of The Dark and shining a light on some seriously catchy comic book anthems.

Has The Purpose been lifted from a Mr Big record?

You’d think so.

It’s not a total rip-off of Eric Martin and co. but there are a few hefty tears here and there.

And that’s no bad thing.

WigWam wear their hair metal heart on their sleeve and The Purpose is a saccharine-sweet ballad borne out of Lean Into It or Mr Big’s superior self-titled debut.

It’s perfectly executed and masterfully produced…

…much like the majority of the first great glam metal album of 2023.

The folk rock fusion Forevermore represents an unexpected treat.

And the meandering 79 is a dreamy instrumental in the vein of Surfing With The Alien-era Joe Satriani.

But WigWam are at their most endearing blasting out balls-to-the-wall party starters like Bad Luck Chuck.

The AC/DC-meets-Dokken fist-pumper is so simple it’s sheer genius.

And it’s clear Glam (aka Åge Sten Nilsen) is loving every minute roaring through the future live favourite.

WigWam’s ability to put smiles on faces has never been in question.

Thanks to the Peacemaker effect those faces are suddenly everywhere.

There’s a fresh appetite for Scandinavian rock, served Sunset Strip style.

And WigWam were always primed to satisfy a renewed hunger for old school hair metal.

Out Of The Dark is an illuminating lesson in ‘new nostalgia’.

Let’s hope it shines the spotlight on WigWam for some time yet.