Wire - Object 47

by Mark Rowland

published: 27 / 7 / 2008

Label: Pink Flag
Format: CD

Impressive eleventh album from ever inventive post-punk group Wire, who over thirty years on since forming continue to take their music in new and alternative directions

Review

When a band has been going as long as Wire has, it is hard not to treat a new release with cynicism, particularly when the band's perceived peak was so early on in their career. This is however, more than a little unfair. Wire have consistently reinvented their sound as the years have gone by and have also kept themselves busy with numerous other projects.Perhaps it is because they have kept their output to a minimum, releasing eleventh studio albums over the course of just over thirty years. It's been five years since their last one, 'Send' and that wait between albums has clearly allowed them to maintain good quality control. The music on 'Object 47' is, in a nutshell, psychedelic music via Joy Division and New Order, but there is a bit more to it than that - no song really sounds like another. Colin Newman's voice might not be the youthful yelp it once was, but it still sounds younger than his years and has developed a subtlety that is lacking on their early efforts. Opener and single 'One of Us' is a mid paced and upbeat song, with a strong vocal hook. 'Circumspect' has a hypnotic, arpeggiated chord progression, with Newman's effect-laden vocal weaving through it. 'Mekon Headman' is Wire's attempt at drone rock, while 'Perspex Icon' marries a flower-power melody with a driving buzzsaw guitar-line and minimal-yet-melodic bassline that brings to mind Joy Division at their most upbeat. 'Four Long Years' is gothic electro pop, while ' Hard Currency' makes use of the distorted electronics currently popular with the hippest dance acts, but backing it with a jittery beat that is more associated with mid-to late 90s dance acts such as Leftfield. 'Patient Flees' is also carried by an upbeat, trippy melody that could have been written by Syd Barrett at his frazzled peak. It is quite possibly the best track on the album, making use of assorted and disperate influences in an interesting way. It could almost be a track off one of their 70s albums, albeit slowed right down to a trippier pace. 'Are You Ready?' is a jerky track that brings to mind post-Eno Talking Heads, While closer 'All Fours' is the kind of arty punk that the band used to specialise in.

Track Listing:-

1 One of Us
2 Circumspect
3 Mekon Headman
4 Perspex Icon
5 Four Long Years
6 Hard Currency
7 Patient Flees
8 Are You Ready?
9 All Fours

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/WIRE.pinkflag
https://twitter.com/WireHQ
http://www.pinkflag.com/
https://plus.google.com/11486421750593
https://soundcloud.com/wirehq
https://www.youtube.com/user/wirehq