Surely Time’s Up for Steel Panther?

Cock-rock parody act Steel Panther have always been a joke that kinda got outta hand, but who knows where they fit in the post-MeToo era.

Seriously, though, they sold out the Academy in Dublin last year and they’ve sold it out twice this time around. Maybe we’ve got more residual Mötley Crüe fans in our midst than we thought.

Steel Panther began as a glam metal cover act on the Sunset Strip and decided to take the spandex, hairspray and sex pest antics to the nth degree and become a real band, with tracks like ’17 Girls In a Row’, ‘It Won’t Suck Itself’ and ‘Poontang Boomerang’.

In fairness, when taken with a pinch of salt they’re worth the odd rock bottom cheap laugh. Their pop-genocide anthem ‘Death To All But Metal’ manages to channel Manowar as well – and contains the line, “Fuck Mariah Carey, death to Sheryl Crowe, they can kiss each other on the camel toe.” It’s not even such a hot take to say their songs are better than the real 80s hair explosion bands, even if Whitesnake’s lawyers have a case with ‘Fat Girl’ being a ringer for ‘Here I Go Again’.

The video for ‘Death To All But Metal’ also ticks a few 80s glam metal cliche boxes, with the Steel Panther boys turning up at a high school and converting the jocks, cheerleaders and teachers into their metal ways – including the headmistress played by Sarah Silverman, who rips off her cardigan and pounces on frontman Michael Starr and kisses him on his bulging collagen lips.

They probably do deserve a few extra points for actually managing to dumb down hair metal even further and partying like Nikki & Vince while they’re at it.  After tearing the ass out of it for years they even called their last album Lower The Bar. The world says Time’s Up on Steel Panther, but if the clock is ticking they’re going out in hairspray & lip gloss.

• Steel Panther play The Academy in Dublin next Tuesday and Wednesday, (February 5 & 6). Both are sold out (!)