Latest Release
- MAR 26, 2024
- 4 Songs
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Chairs Missing · 1978
- Pink Flag · 1977
- Pink Flag · 1977
- The Ideal Copy · 1987
- Pink Flag · 1977
Essential Albums
- 1978
- The definitive post-punk record that would come to epitomize a genre, Pink Flag snuck onto the scene when the Sex Pistols and the Clash were playing to their safety-pinned, Mohawk’d crowds. Three of the four members of Wire came from an art-school background, enabling them to take the basic punk esthetic (simplicity and brashness) and mold it into a completely different and more sophisticated form. Enhancing that punk core with white space, meticulously controlled repetition, and pop hooks camouflaged under an abrasive sheen, the songs on Pink Flag threaten to burst apart: sometimes short and explosive, other times rumbling with a slow fuse, they impact the listener with visceral force. Wire’s debut has more than withstood the test of time, especially with tunes like “Three Girl Rhumba,” “Ex Lion Tamer” and “1 2 X U” becoming two-and three-chord cult wonders, covered by blossoming punkers everywhere. Pink Flag is an astounding document of musical evolution that imparts utter timelessness in its perfection.
- 2020
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2013
Artist Playlists
- Stripping away the excess with the post-punk pioneers.
- Sonic innovation and pop melody in thrilling alliance.
- Just where would indie music be without this U.K. post-punk band?
- Artfully scuffed jitter-punks test the sonic structure of pop.
Compilations
- 2020
- 2010
About Wire
Emerging from the British punk explosion, Wire resisted easy categorization from the start, and would for decades to come. Their first three albums alone attest to their startling evolution: Pink Flag (1977) twisted punk's simplicity and rawness to Wire's own arty designs, on Chairs Missing (1978) they added frosty atmospheres and more melodic songwriting, both of which they heightened on 154 (1979). The band's willingness to stop recording when ideas aren't forthcoming is also crucial to their longevity and relevance. They returned from hiatuses in the '80s and '90s with renewed creativity on the electronic leanings of The Ideal Copy (1987) and the ferocious noise of Send (2003). Later works such as Mind Hive (2020) exemplified their moody guitar pop in the 2010s and beyond. Wire's restlessness paved the way for hardcore punk, post-punk, and goth, as well as the many post-punk revivalists of the 21st century.
- ORIGIN
- City of London, London, England
- FORMED
- 1976
- GENRE
- Rock