WIRE
"Silver / Lead"
Pink Flag
Released: March 31, 2017
I don't know anyone, who truly loves punk, hardcore or alternative music who doesn't acknowledge that Wire's 1977 LP "Pink Flag" is a mandatory, influential and classic record.
ac·knowl·edge
əkˈnäləj/
verb
1.
accept or admit the existence or truth of.
Most then also add titles like "Chairs Missing", "154", "The Ideal Copy" and "A Bell Is A Cup" to some extent as titles you have to follow up with and or also note as classic records, depending if they ever even listened to anything beyond "Pink Flag". Basically, you can't go wrong with anything in the 1970s or 1980s.
Most of my hardcore friends were introduced to Wire in the same manner... through Minor Threat's ripping cover of "12XU". Hell, I didn't even know it was a cover until years later. Then I picked up "Pink Flag" and understood.
Seriously. If you are reading this and do not have Wire and Minor Threat's versions of "12XU", if you don't own Minor Threat's entire discography or Wire's "Pink Flag', make sure you obtain those before the end of the day, preferably on vinyl.
"Silver / Lead" is Wire's 15th studio LP.
Wire in 2017 reminds me of the haunting, dark, post punk of the 1980s. I was always attracted to that sound because it felt like it was trying to be energetic and hopeful but there was an undercurrent of complete bleakness. An aural reflection on how I felt most of the time.
bleak·ness
ˈblēknəs/
noun
the quality or state of being bare and inhospitable.
"the bleakness of that destroyed landscape"
the quality or state of cold and miserable weather.
"the bleakness of winter"
the quality or state of being hopeless, discouraging, or unlikely to have a favorable outcome.
"this story is marked by unrelenting bleakness"
Give "Short Elevated Period" a listen:
SHORT ELEVATED PERIOD
Skippering a skiff, in the typhoon season
Open to change, in need of a hand
No longer confused by rhyme nor reason
Indian queens paddle dugout canoes
The passenger matches the price that he’s asking
Embracing the modern he now understands
It’s a pivotal moment, in an uncertain future
A pain relief deal done on the Frankfurt Express
Right up to the moment I I.D. you
My reasons for living were under review
A parting of the ways, what had it come to?
Standing in the road, where would I go to?
In a short elevated period
The album is varied, sometimes very heady, atmospheric and dark... begging you to put the headphones on and turn out the lights to be transported. The kind of record you want to listen to when you are just listening to a record. There are textures and sounds you don't want to gloss over and potentially miss.
The new Wire album "Silver/Lead" is available on CD, Vinyl and a Special Edition - a hard backed 80 page case bound book, with text by Graham Duff, extended credits, lyrics and lots of color photos as well as the CD.
THIS TIME
Some folks believe in magic
Does voodoohoodoo do it for you?
Some folks claim they know all the answers
And for a price they’ll share them with you
This time it’s going to be better
This time I’m going to be strong
This time I refuse to get bitter!
Even though I knew you were wrong!
Some folks have the gift for living
Others make a living hell
Some folks take love as a given
And can’t stop falling under its spell
This time it’s going to be better
This time I’m going to be strong
This time I refuse to get bitter!
Even though I knew you were wrong!
Cheers,
Frank FOE
Pink Flag Records
Silver/Lead
Wire FB
