WireEvery once and a while, for whatever reason, you discover a band or an album that has apparently been around for a very long time but, somehow, has seemingly gone unnoticed by you...well, me, I guess is what I’m saying. And this doesn’t happen to me very often (when it comes to music, quality related television programs slip through my fingers all the time). The only reason I say that is because, growing up, I was extremely fortunate to have the type of father who introduced me to more music than I possibly will ever discover for myself. He had (and still does, actually) the biggest CD collection I’ve ever seen, and our house, was a house, that when you woke up on a weekend morning, or came home from a friends house, the front door was wide open, and music would be spilling out into the street. Now, as you can imagine, this had a bit of an effect (and an affect) on myself and my two brothers. My brothers, being older than me by 5 years, and again by 9, making quite the age gap when you’re growing up, also ended up having a significant influence on the music I listen to, or have even heard. These are three distinct and massive generation gaps, so like I said, there is a rare occasion when I am surprised to find that a band from, oh the 70s, let’s say, that is completely unbeknownst to me. So when it happens and I get excited, I’ve decided to implement the throwback review.
Wire, a recent discovery thanks to a very good friend of mine and a Facebook post he made on his own wall. It was the track Mannequin from Wire’s first studio album Pink Flag. As it turns out, (even though I have only submitted hip hop reviews for this blog) I’m a massive punk fan, it was the first genre of music that I got to claim as my own, which neither my father nor my brother’s could hold any sway over what I listened to (youth in revolt...of a very encouraging non-judgmental environment, I might add). Now, technically, people consider Wire to fall under the post-punk, new wave genres, but, Pink Flag was released in 1977, smack dab in the middle of the punk movement, so for all intents and purposes, I’m calling this album punk.
I’ve done some reading since downloading the album and, it turns out, Wire is considered to be a major influence, coming out of the London in ’76. Pink Flag definitely reflects the first wave of British punk. It’s minimalistic and fast paced, as all good classic punk is (the longest track on the album being is 3:58), short bursts of attitude. Personally, I love this original style of punk, and appreciate it, not simply for nostalgic purposes, but for the energy it insights in the listeners. But aside from that, you can clearly hear the origins of post punk coming through on the tracks, with actual tempo changes and the tiniest bit of harmony on some of the vocal tracks.
This whole album is right up my alley and all kinds of good. It’s amazing sometimes that when you’re looking to find really good music, it’s been there the whole time.
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