MATIAS CORRAL
Plenty of bands have been eaten alive by narratives that attack their work from the outside. Under that sort of scrutiny, records withindividual merits can become little more than trite comeback stories, visits to the last chance saloon, or meek attempts at recreating former glories. Wire have been navigating that reality for more than four decades.
Ever since their Chairs Missing LP upended the apple cart in 1978, reconfiguring the short, sharp shock of their seminal debut Pink Flag into dub-inflected post-punk walkabouts, the expectation has been that each subsequent release would provide similar refinements. Where most bands are seemingly honourbound to churn out the same thing over and over again to satisfy their fanbase, Wire must continually find new avenues to stroll down.