Album review: WIG WAM – Out Of The Dark

February 14th, 2023 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 10.02.23]

Hard to believe Wig Wam began strutting their Glam/Classic Rock stuff two decades ago.Their flirtation with Eurovision is well documented, but the band’s post 2014 downtime gap is not. What we do know is that the band reformed around 2020, and that Out Of The Dark is the second album since the comeback.

All comebacks should be like this. The new album is a whirlwind of caustic comments, sinewy melodies and shout it out loud choruses. It’s a sharp tongued observation of life and the characters who populate their world.

The title and opening track itself is a muscular, four and a half minute joyride, rising on a rush of ringing guitars, twisting through several heartstopping melodic moments, landing eventually on a massive hook of a chorus.

The production and arrangements ensure the engagingly melodic components and tribal chants of songs like ‘High’n'Dry’ and ‘Forevermore’ get as much focus as the volcanic riffage and the punchy, pulsing rhythms.

Thereafter, picking the standouts will be the subject of much debate.

‘Uppercut Shazam’s sensory overload of glam rock and metal, and ‘Ghosting You’, a hook heavy rock song, with the street smart pop sensibilities of a long past magical mystery tour, undoubtedly make them contenders.

Yet, ‘Bad Luck Chuck’s juicy barroom stomp and the fiercely dramatic, Bowie-esque love story, ‘The Purpose’ push them, arguably, to the front of the queue.

Having so much high calibre stuff to choose from here will delight discerning melodic rock fans. And finishing with the sea shanty rock of ‘Sailor And The Desert Sun’, a song full of clanging, spiralling guitars, dancing hornpipes and stack heeled choruses, might just be the one to confound us all. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)