Wire

Whether you like Wire's arty, minimalist, jagged punk or their filled-out, moody electronica, you'll have the distinct pleasure of listening to one of rock 'n' roll's most important and influential bands. 1977 was a year when there seemed to be more Punk albums than you could shake a ripped T-shirt at. Perhaps the most daring and truly experimental was Wire's Pink Flag. It's an edgy, excitable, bare-bones sonic rush that's simply dazzling in its unheralded mix of ambitiousness and ebullience. And we're talking rush: 21 songs clock in under 40 minutes. Provocateurs Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis and Robert Gotobed weren't afraid to experiment with different styles and moods, a spirit that's remained with them throughout their career. Almost everything Wire did has had repercussions in the post-punk and indie rock community. The brevity of their songs and their unorthodox developments were mirrored by lo-fi gods Guided By Voices; their jagged dissonance and willful artiness informed the music of bands such as Pere Ubu and the Mekons; even groups that appear to bear little resemblance to Wire (R.E.M and Menswear, for instance) have covered their songs or borrowed their riffs. The music is wonderfully complemented by singer Newman's dark and dense lyrical vision, rendering their body of work intellectually stimulating without hindering the breadth of their collective imagination.