WIG WAM: Non Stop Rock & Roll  

9 / 10
By rights, Wig Wam should be world famous. These talented Norwegians haven’t exactly been churning out albums like some bands (this their 4th album in 8 years), but each one has been an absolute gem filled with melodic sleazy rock coupled with some truly scary fashion sense. Anticipation for “Non Stop Rock & Roll” has been high, and I hope that the high rating above will allay any fears you may have had. Wig Wam may have taken 3 years to get around to the album, but it certainly wasn’t three wasted years.

I’m guessing the Wig Wamaniacs out there will want to know just how rock and roll this album is, and the answer certainly isn’t “Non Stop”, sadly. Whilst there’s a plethora of fast, catchy, hook laden monsters like “Wild One”, Walls Come Down” and the simply amazing title track, there’s also a couple of ballads that creep in and do their best to kill the party. “Man In The Moon” is pretty yawnsome, and “From Here” follows it four tracks later and follows the same pattern. I suppose they’re both quite competent as wet ballads go, but I personally found them both eminently skippable. The good news is that every other track is pure Wig Wam, with choruses that will stick in your brain for days and months to come. The track most guilty of this is “Chasing Rainbows”, a schmaltzy piece that even has a children’s choir hurling the refrain at the listener until it sticks and won’t peel off.

Including the bonus track “Got To get It On” there’s ten rocking monsters here that fans will simply adore. And two ballads, but I'll leave that up to you. My personal favourite is the title track, which was good enough to convert two previous Wig Wam virgins on a car journey last month. It’s a real balls out rock track, pure melody, speed and guitar. The album as a whole has a great production and there’s no complaint as to the talents of the band. The perfect bridge between AOR and glam rock, Wig Wam aren’t stopping yet, so get on board their crazy train now.

Review by Alan Holloway, RockUnited, 04.01.2010
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