Wire

My brother, who I admire in most all of his musical tastes turned me onto Wire when I was 14 or 15 by saying, "I hate this band, but you'll love them." I didn't know what that meant until I listened to them. I asked him recently if he ever liked Wire and if not, why not, and all he replied was "Too much fartsy, not enough artsy." And I don't know if that rings true or not to everyone, but it doesn't to me. Isn't all post-punk thought-driven and artsy? And isn't all post-punk experimental and fartsy?

Watching the DVD performance from Rockpalast for the first time a month ago, I realized what he meant when he said "fartsy." Wire is over-confident in their playing technique and the way they jerk about on stage, but they have every right to be.

Wire's second album, "Chairs Missing," came out ten months after their first one, "Pink Flag," and was leaps and bounds better than the first in terms of arranging, writing, and musicianship. One of the artistic pinnacles of the post-punk movement, the first album came out in '77 and was pure post-punk, and the second album is still easily one of the greatest albums to come out of the post-punk movement. Every D.C. rock band since early Fugazi has taken a lot from Wire.

These two of the heavier Wire songs, "Mercy" and "A Question of Degree," both from "Chairs Missing," show the mastery of the subtlety of their arrangements and their musical ability. For example, in "A Question of Degree," notice how the drummer starts playing double time on the hi-hat in the second verse. In "Mercy," notice how the bass player will stop on the second interval instead of the root to add a little tension (-James).

The version of "Mercy" here is from the On the Box 1979 CD/DVD, and "A Question of Degree" is the studio version. If you dig Wire, check out On the Box. It was done between "Chairs Missing" and "154," their third album.

Post Punk Junk also has a live Wire show from CBGBs from 1978 up that is not the best sound quality, but it's still neat to listen to. You can find them here.

Wire isn't for everyone as I said, but Wire is still cool.

-Caroline

Wire - Mercy
Wire - A Question of Degree