Wire

Wire is as minimalist and direct as anything the group has done to date.

The album borders on monochromatic at times (possibly because there are no songs by Graham Lewis, who provided some of Red Barked Tree and Change Becomes Us' finest tracks), yet its subtle subversions are thoroughly Wire, and thoroughly befitting the band at this stage in its career.

If this album doesn’t bowl you over, it doesn’t disappoint either and rest assured that their next record will be something different that you didn’t expect either.

They may have made their most accessible album since 1979’s 154, but where they go next is anybody’s guess.

As Wire albums go, Wire is very accessible and it contains nods to almost every album that has come before it.

The result is a direct, delicious assortment. [May 2015, p.104]

A collection that feels like a fresh bookend to their first three classic albums. [May 2015, p.115]

It’s all really well turned, potent and crisp.

'Blogging' opens the album on a high, with Graham Lewis' instantly recognisable bass guitar locking into a four-to-the-floor disco groove between Robert Grey's drums and squelchy synth stabs, rewriting the Bible using a contemporary, internet-generation terminology of "Google style maps", "Amazon Wishlist" and "Blackberry Hedgefunds." 'Shifting' similarly applies the language of espionage and global politics to the end of a relationship, over a melodic, summery sway that nevertheless maintains the band's customary sense of distance.

Wire is yet another fine addition to the band’s already bulletproof legacy.

Wire needs more of the barbed wit and brute anger that has enabled the band's best post-2000 work stand up to its iconic '70s recordings. [No. 120, p.60]

The Wire agenda stays constant in a changing world. [Apr 2015, p.63]

A touch of monotony creeps in, although they keep it at bay through sheer volume on the closing, eight-minute "Harpooned." [Jun 2015, p.84]

WIRE is both catchy and not. It’s serious and humorous. It’s both concise and drawn-out.

Wire feels at first almost strangely normal. Lewis is credited with most of the lyrics, Newman does most of the vocals in his gentler speak/sing mode, and the feeling generally is calmly inviting.

They may not be quite the same scrappy art rock brats that made Pink Flag and Chairs Missing underground classics, but they’re no less thoughtful and inventive in their songwriting approach.

So Wire is no great shakes--not even close to the genius of Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, or A Bell is a Cup--but it's still a worthy addition to any music fan's 2015 collection.

Yet, for all its superficial obliqueness, Wire is an unashamed pop record at heart.

If nothing here quite reaches the hook-laden heights of Outdoor Miner or Kidney Bingos, there are plenty of sunlit avant-pop uplands. [May 2015, p.97]