‘Chairs Missing’, the second of Wire’s holy trinity of late ’70s post-punk classics, turns 40 years old.
Seething with a creativity and artfulness that set it miles apart from British punk in 1977, Wire’s debut album ‘Pink Flag’ remains a totem for indie culture.
Post-punk legends Wire’s 16th album ‘Silver/Lead’, their third in as many years, puts many of today’s guitar groups to shame.
by Ed Biggs The story of London post-punk cult heroes Wire is one of those where the artist’s influence is way out of whack compared with their actual sales figures. Their 1977 debut Pink Flag was post-punk before punk was even finished with its three-note thrashings, and two feverishly creative albums in 1978’s incredible Chairs Missing and 1979’s almost impenetrable 154 followed before the group disintegrated through creative differences.
by Matthew Langham It is rare for a band with a forty year history to sound contemporary, but with a back catalogue of over a dozen records, Wire’s self-titled album fits in nicely with their forward-thinking oeuvre. Two years on from Change Becomes Us, they still maintain their edge with an intriguing experimentation in motorik-driven electronica. The quartet have taken the post-punk riffs and engrained them into sophisticated guitar pop,
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