Currently enjoying “Send” by Wire

Throughout their intermittent but lengthy career, Wire have made a habit of making great music, disappearing for years, and then reemerging with a whole new aesthetic. From the pop-punk sound of early records like Chairs Missing and their strangely reminiscent of Elastica debut Pink Flag, through the grander synthetic sounds of later records like Manscape, to the grungier but catchy rock of today, Wire has always been a tough one to nail down.

Still, I wonder how many of their fans could have predicted the dramatic, gritty turn the band would take after the turn of the century with releases like Send.

Largely made up of material originally released during the previous year on the first two Read & Burn EPs, 2003′s Send is an oddly amazing combination of raw anger and matter-of-fact delivery. Having proven themselves adept at complex song structures and colourful musicianship, Wire seemed determined to strip their music back down to its basic elements, and then turn the volume all the way up.

The wry vocal delivery of the past is backed with a snarl, and the band is drenched in distortion and sheer musical weight. Send is an intense and immediate album that propels itself towards its epic finish as if there’s no time to lose – and if the album’s themes are any indication, there probably isn’t.

When Wire returned as a trio with Object 47 in 2008, the bite was still there, but the prevailing sound was the uptempo punk of the early days. It’s a fine album, and many fans would no doubt consider it a return to form. But for me, the Wire of the Read & Burn and Send era is the sound of a band doing the best work of its career to date. Then again, for all we know, their best album is yet to come.

Posted in Currently Enjoying