Wire's career is a microcosm. From the
stripped down beginnings on Pink Flag to the avant-influenced
oddball experiments on Chairs Missing and finally the full fledged
leap into the unknown with 154, their first three albums pretty
much define how punk developed into post-punk before the latter
even really had a name. Even after their hiatus, their return
in the late 80's epitomized the sound that post-punk had turned
into, embracing pop and dance music to create "New Wave."
This is why you couldn't be surprised by their second reformation
in the 00's. Post Punk had indeed entered another stage in it's
timeline (the "revival" stage, popularized by bands
like Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads), and it's creators,
who seemingly have been documenting it's evolution ever since,
had to have their say.
And so, 5 years after capturing the post-punk
revival movement in it's aggressively youthful abandon with Send,
they've returned with the much more melodious Object 47, defining
how most of the post-punk revivalists have embraced higher production
values and tamed down their approach (Bloc Party, British Sea
Power and even Interpol don't sound nearly as energetic and frantic
as they once were). The difference is, much like the soft-spoken
A Bell is A Cup..., Object 47 does it right.
The proof lies in the album’s electrifying
contradictions. This is music that, when picked apart, reveals
menacing tenseness and industrialism. "All Fours" rolls
in on a classically Wire-esque single-chord bash, that gets exceptionally
assaulted by a vicious bridge of noise and feedback. "Circumspect"
is drugged up and strung out to dry, decadence and distance embodied
in the form of listless guitar figures. But, ironically, looking
at Wire's latest offering from a distance reveals nothing but
a bunch of condensed pop tunes. The tightly-wound guitars may
be focused on forming walls of dissonance and repetition, but
unlike their last album, the band uses these ear-piercing textures
in order to pen some infectious hooks. "Perspex Icon"
couldn't be more memorable, contrasting a vocal that borders on
whimpering with layers of brisk and fervent post punk guitars.
And tracks like "Mekon Headman" or "One of Us"
have choruses that will lodge themselves in your brain for weeks.
On
modern electro-buzzing tracks like "Hard Currency" it
becomes easy to compare production techniques with that of seasoned
producer Flood (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails), a craftsman
who has been known in the past to dwell in that spot between abrasive
squalor and catchiness. There are moments that the band's mainstream
flirtations are made far too apparent (the dark highway driving
anthem, "Four Long Years" is a little too close to Depeche
Mode for comfort and "Are You Ready" desperately needs
to get away from its sterile production), but Wire is a band that
has proven to hold up to change remarkably well, and with Object
47 they continue to triumphantly hold the torch up for post punk.
(Aron Fischer)
For fans of: Nine Inch Nails, Blonde Redhead, Franz Ferdinand,
Futureheads
|
