 Wire There's no reason Wire ought to be making the best music of their career right now. They've been at it, on and off, for like 25 years, and suddenly, with a new sense of purpose, well into their 40s, here they are making pretty much any younger rock band look like total amateurs. Tight, inspired, aggressive, energetic, thrilling, and – here's the difference – melodic, Wire is back to claim what is rightfully theirs. Read & Burn is the first of two new, revitalized Wire EPs, short and to the point, louder than words, summing up everywhere the band has been and bringing them someplace new, too. Read & Burn 02 is even better, but both are well worth getting. I picked them both up after seeing the band live (having heard of, but not heard, them previously), and unlike a lot of current music, I find myself returning to them again and again. Driving drums that brew and burst out, tinny fuzz guitars that squeal and squirm, brutal British vocals snarling, electro effects that never get cheesy. The disc comes out like Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, yelling in your face, kicking you in the groin, knocking over your favorite lamp, and then leaving abruptly as you cradle your pride, whimpering, secretly hoping it will return to kick you once again. It ROCKS. Get it.
Review by B. Foote |