Regenerating like a post-punk Doctor Who, the fourth-phase Wire have found themselves so prolific lately that 2015’s self-titled release yielded eight rubies-in-the-dust, rounded-up here.
The sleeve art is, er, minimal, so it’s down to the music to prove itself – and thankfully it does just that.
Without the polish of favoured studio Rockfield, the ethos behind the EP was “any trickery is fair game, if it makes
it sound better”.
In his Swim HQ, Colin Newman put parts together for a familiar foundation of throbbing bass and bright, shiny guitar, typified by the title track, which carries our eponymous nomads along at a speedy, motorik lick as Newman’s distinctly English delivery – reminiscent of Andy Partridge and Steven Wilson – asks ‘Do you think you are able/ Of finding your way?’ Keeping the tempo up are the brisk trumpet march of Internal Exile, the robotic, poppy Numbered (complete with a sweet Autobahn-like outro) and a strident, drum-heavy Still.
The sweaty, galley-slave swing of Pilgrim Trade is a standout, but who could resist the bonkers prog disco ruminations of Graham Lewis grabbing the mic for Fishes Bones? Situationism at its most gloriously playful.
