With the release of their seminal debut (Pink Flag) in 1977 (‘this is ’77 / nearly heaven / it’s black, white, and pink / just think’ - “It’s So Obvious” from Pink Flag),  

Wire shattered the punk rock mold long before the plaster had time to harden. Their follow-up one-two punch of Chairs Missing and 154 obliterated any previously defined classifications of rock music. Within a mere four years of their inception, Wire created three masterpieces that influenced an endless menagerie of wannabes and copycats. Forever innovating, forever redefining, forever evolving, Wire has continued to release vital records throughout their 30-year career. That is, in between sabbaticals.

 

Since their most recent resurrection in 2000, Wire has focused primarily on reappraising the integrity of their history with the release of several classic live performances (on CD and DVD) and re-releases of their aforementioned 1970s material; yet Wire has not eschewed their role in further redefining the future of music, they have released new material on three EPs under the Read and Burn series and one full-length, Send (2003).

 

Designed as a research and development tool, the Read and Burn series was developed as a way for Wire to do what they want and release it (on their Pink Flag label) when and how they find most appropriate, with no limits or boundaries dictated by a pesky, money grubbing record label. The primary impetus of the EP series is to serve as a testing ground for larger scale projects such as Send.

 

If the driving shout-rock of Read and Burn 01 read like a denial of the importance of their first three records; then Read and Burn 03 is a 180 degree turn, whole-heartedly embracing their early genius. With the just shy of ten minute long massive attack of “23 Years Too Late” leading the way, Wire deconstructs their early years with eyes wide open. The karmic nature of the recurring bombardment of self-referential statements seems a witty retort to the infinite number of bands that have chosen to mimic early-Wire rather than develop something new and exciting. The 25-minutes of Read and Burn 03 gives those lads (and let’s not forget the lasses) a swift kick in the rump, putting them in their place, showing them how it’s really done, revealing the true kings of this playground. You get the picture.

 

So, let’s return to the proverbial pink elephant, the menacing monolith of verbal verbosity - “23 Years Too Late.” 23 years ago would be 1984 – did George Orwell’s fictional future of fear finally come to fruition, 23 years later than he predicted (‘fresh from The States with extra fear’)? Part spoken word essay, part post-everything (-punk, -modern, -structuralism) epic; the opening track is filled to the rim, brimming with sometimes meaningful and other-times ambiguous references (including TiLo - member of Tommy Lee’s post-Motley Crue rap-metal hybrid, Methods of Mayhem). Certain fragments border on surrealist nonsense (‘Popeye remembers a cycloptic monster’ or ‘fun-filled firemen visit the Museum of Backward Hats’) while other segments resemble what would have worked brilliantly as a theme for Southland Tales (‘grey hairs genuflect as perforated anarchists / lead the Screw-top Revolution’ or ‘naked punks and stone-hard pagans / sonic paramedics weep / harness short delays’). Attempting to decipher this word-soaked beast reminds me of the closing line of “French Film (Blurred)” from Chairs Missing: ‘the problems of bad reception resulting in blurred perception.’ As I dig deeper, the meaning only becomes more blurred.

 

The remaining three tracks (“Our Time,” “No Warning Given” and “Desert Diving”) are no less important, despite their shorter (radio friendly) running times. The whole of Read and Burn 03 is the Wire album I have been waiting for since 1980. It is the album that a multitude of lesser-skilled musicians have attempted to create; yet despite the 28-to-30-year-old blueprints laid out before them, no one has been able to master the domain quite like Wire. ‘Practice makes perfect / I’ve done this before’ (“Practice Makes Perfect” from Chairs Missing).

 

Their keen ability to meld intelligent and beguiling lyrics with an intricately manufactured musical framework is unmatched to this day. They remain to be the only fly in the ointment, buzz, buzz, buzzing in your ear…