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