21st January 2011

Audio with 43 notes

Wire, “Two Minutes”
Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag)

New Wire! If you’re not excited about this, you must not know anything about these guys. Go listen to Pink Flag, their first (and most incredible) record, and then, once you recovered from having your ass blown out, you can come back here and read about how good their latest album, Red Barked Tree is. (It’s really good).

Despite the fact that they’re about a million years old (or something), Wire is still able to put out fantastic art-punk records with more vitality than pretty much anyone (see: Object 47). Red Barked Tree serves only to cement the idea that Wire is fucking great, and always will be.

My favorite tracks on the album are “Two Minutes,” a wide, noisy, urgent song that knocks you out in exactly that much time, and “Moreover,” a similarly punchy four-and-a-half minutes of sound blending artificial tones with powerful rhythms for a driving force of movement.

Go buy a Wire record already.

Tagged: wirered barked treetwo minutesmoreoverfuture rock