Wire
Pink Flag
»
|
NATN Recommended
Wire
Pink Flag
Restless, 1977
RiYL: Pere Ubu, Gang Of Four, Minutemen, The Fall |
Rather than starting with bombastic '70s rock and tearing it down, Wire started with the most basic elements of music and built musical structures without antecedent. They approached making music like art students building primitive sculptures with guitar and drum sounds instead of toothpicks and glue. As their career progressed, the band moved on to making more and more elaborate sculptures, but in the beginning, there was Pink Flag: 21 songs in under 36 minutes. Raw, varied and uncompromising, it stands as one of the more powerful debut albums of the '70s.
Repeated listens to this ambitious effort have their rewards, since a lot of the best songs are less than a minute in length, and some of them fly by before they get a chance to sink in. The nugget "Field Day For The Sundays," a humorous poke at tabloid weeklies, clocks in at a mere 27 seconds. Rather than repeat a hook endlessly to drive it into a listener's brain, Wire tends to stop short after they have said their piece. As a consequence, few of the songs follow traditional pop/rock structures, and unexpected jolts and jerks are a matter of course.
The treats are abundant, including opener "Reuters," a gloomy transmission from the end of the world. The angular two-minute chugger ends with the haunting couplet "This is your correspondent, running out of tape / gunfire's increasing -- looting! burning! rape!" "Three Girl Rhumba" is one of the catchiest tunes, its staccato riff being famously pilfered by Wire aficionados Elastica on their single "Connection." The original is just as cool, Colin Newman's thick English accent barking strange orders ("Think of a number / divide it by two... open a box / tear off the lid").
"Ex-Lion Tamer" is one of the most traditional punk rock tunes on the record, and fits in right with the best songs of that era. It's a testament to Wire's talents that a chorus of "But now fish fingers all in a line / the milk bottles stand empty / stay glued to your T.V. set" can come off as instantly catchy and almost anthemic. It's no "God Save The Queen" in terms of lyrical sentiment, but musically, the message is just as effective.
And they don't stop there. "Mr. Suit" is a great quit-your-job theme, with its furious refrain of "I'm tired of being told what to do / I'm tired of fucking phonies / that's right, I'm tired of you!" The animosity continues with the more restrained "Mannequin," and its measured put-downs ("You're a waste of space / no natural grace"), but the band even gets a little soft on the excellent "Fragile," a broken-hearted tale spun with the most delicious melody.
The record's spread can make it hard to sum up. There is no unified statement made, merely a collection of concepts that is impressive for its sheer weight. Though the punk era was one of grand statements that made people re-think what rock and roll was about, Wire does that here simply by playing its heart out. It can be abrasive, but Pink Flag's herculean density and widely varied smorgasbord of musical ideas make it a landmark album.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.