It has gone uncharacteristically quiet on the 17 Seconds front. Not because I stopped car

ing or writing, but simply because I went away on holiday for a few weeks. Australia

, since you ask – and it was bloody fantastic.

So there will be

more music reviews and whatnot to follow, in the meantime, check out the review I wrote of Wire’s most recent album

Nocturnal Koreans, which was printed over at Is This Music?

Wire -‘Red Barked Tree’ (Pin

k Flag)

So, not only are Gang Of Four back with a new album, so are Wire!

…except, while Content is Gang Of Four’s first album in sixteen years,

Wire may have gone on hiatus over the years, b

ut they have been back together since the mid-eighties in some form or another. And sure, Wire are probably best remembered for their opening salvo, the trilogy of albums that was Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154, they have continued to produce great singles and albums. If at the very least you haven’t heard songs like ‘Kidney Bingos’ and ‘Ear drum buzz’ then shame on you, frankly.

Album opener ‘Please Take’ is deceptive, sounding slight at first u

ntil you realise that -like say, Scritti Politti’s ‘The Word Girl’- it is a hugely angry song. ‘Please take your knife out of my back/and when you do, please don’t twist it.’ There is definitely a je ne sais quoi Wire sound, and even if this album lacks the oddness associated with their earlier work, the ‘Wire sound’ is here in spades. Pinpointing what it is is the trouble -yet whether it’s the dreamy guitars of ‘Adapt’ or the lyrical matter of factness of ‘Please Take’ or the controlled feedback of ‘Two Minutes’ -it’s definitely a Wire album. And that’s a very good thing.

Sure this album doesn’t explore weird terrain in the way that their early work did, and I’m not entirely sure how m

any new fans it will wi

n them. But as someone who loves their work, it’s a fine album, and good to have it.

***1/2

Red Barked Tree is out now on Pink Flag

Wire -‘Adapt.’ mp3

This Wire session was the fifth and final one that they reco

rded for John Pee

l’s show, in 2002. You can read more details about it here

Spent

I Don’t Understand

1st Fast

99.9 (2002 Festive Fifty no.34)

Wire’s official website is here.

You should get yourself some Wire stuff, starting with the first three seminal albums Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154.

Thanks to David for sending me these tracks, I will be having a Belle

and Sebastian fest very, very soon. W

atch this space…