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Review:
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Wire are back, and perhaps better than ever
before. For those who don't know, here's a quick summary. Wire
started out as a punk band ("art-punk" they called it) in 1977
in the UK. Yes, that means they were contemporaries/peers of
The Sex Pistols and The Clash. No, Epitaph bands do not rip
them off. They released 3 great albums, then faded away for
a while. They re-formed in the 80's to release some post-punk/synthpop/"new
wave" stuff, then burned out again in 1991. Then, around the
Turn of the Millenium, they re-formed again. A sign of the coming
apocalypse perhaps? The exact meaning of this portent is still
undetermined....
This is the second in their Read & Burn series
of fresh, quick-to-release, new material. It was created for
their 2002 tour, and was to be sold only as shows. Of course,
there are some leftovers for sale at their
website, if you are interested.
And by god you should be! This is some of the most intense,
visceral, and completely, brutally honest music that i have
ever heard. Six songs of sheer perfection, of what music should
be in an ideal world where people tried to think with their
brains and not their haircuts!
This EP starts with Read and Burn, a flurry of seesawing
guitars, electronic noise, and vocalist Colin Newman's furious
bellowing. The song moves along at a furious pace seething with
rage and excess energy. "Wire," it says, "are here, and they
are not gonna fuck around. So get with the program or get out
of the way."
And then there is the majesty of Spent, which flows
seemlessly from Read and Burn. This song is more mechanical
in it's rhythm, and starts with a repeated guitar riff and Newman
screaming, "Is this paranoid religious extreeeeemism!". It builds
and builds and builds and then, suddenly, it explodes with loud
rock drumming, and the song becomes a wall of sonic energy.
Spent is LOUD and pure and beautiful. Emotion unshielded,
a scream into the void at all that is stupid and annoying.
I think it should be pointed out that it was during a performance
of this song last fall at The Echo Lounge that i had something
close to a religious experience. Listening to this song still
makes me feel more alive than i normally do. It is such a powerful
musical statement. All of the elements that a song should have
a present: driving rhythm, thudding bass riffs, overdriven guitar,
an undercurrent of raw anger, and more feedback than you can
care to shake a stick at. Or shake yourself at. This is what
i always though punk rock should be, instead of the stoner
ramblings of Green Day, or the stylistically pure suburban white
pop of Face To Face, or all that harcore nastiness.
Anyway, Read and Burn 02 starts with 2 songs
of pure punk energy. Then, when you are exhausted from just
listening, Wire kick it down a notch and give you a great pop
tune. Because, well, they can. It's called Trash/Treasure
and is catchy and poppy. It features, buried in the mix, the
keyboards that dominated their late 80's work, but here they
are a mere accompaniment to the overall sound. Newman sings
not screams, and he has a good voice and can carry a happy little
melody.
Nice Streets Above follows with a noise fest. It is
catchy with a toe-tapping rhythm and happy little melody, but
all that is buried under distortion and eerie vocals and crunchy
rhythmic noises. It is my least favorite track on this EP, but
is still quite good.
The distortion and overdrive continues with Raft Ants,
where Newman starts screaming again. This song really sounds
like an old-school, class of 1977 UK punk classic: the vocals
are a chant, the guitars are a whirr of sound, and the drumming
is fast and repetitive. It's also, oddly enough, very danceable.
If you are pogo-ing that is, and really, what other dance is
there?
Finally, this EP ends with 99.9, a song that starts
with a few minutes of ambient computer noise. It is a low hum,
like the sounds you hear on a spaceship that has been invaded
by a predatory alien species and you are waiting to be eaten.
Then, slowly, the band comes in. And the song explodes, and
again it is perfect punk.
I think, now that i listen to this EP, that Wire started that
show i saw with
99.9 and then went into Spent with no break. At
least, this sounds like what i remember. And in all honesty,
finding out what that was has become sort of important to me,
given what that concert did to me....
Anyway, enough about that. Yes, i am now a Wire fan. And this
is the second coming. Wait, make that third coming. It is a
masterful EP, and i hope that Wire continue to record things
this stunning.
If you have any interest whatsoever in punk rock, hard rock,
art rock, or emotionally raw music, then i cannot recommend
this EP enough. In fact, this is absolutely essential listening. |
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