The Stooges - Fun House

Release Date: 07.07.1970

★★★★★ Tracks:

Down on the Streets
Loose

Punk rock’s foundations are agreed to have begun sometime in the late 1950’s. But in my mind the first band to embody punk rock as we now know it is The Stooges. And it all starts with Iggy. Here on Fun House he screams, squeals, barks, claps, burps, cajoles, and sings as abrasively as he can for thirty minutes, trying his damnedest to replicate the energy from his legendary stage persona. And what a stage persona. A man willing to do anything to rile the audience, he would roll in glass, throw up on stage, dance like a lunatic, and his most lasting antic, stage dive into the audience, being the first to attempt what is now a concert past time.

As much as I like punk rock though, The Stooges are a group I appreciate more than I rotate regularly. Fun House is solid but I think punk rock works best in compact doses. The repetitive melodies are effective and outstanding on the shorter songs here (“Down on the Street”, “Loose”) but wear out their welcome on anything +5 minutes (“Dirt”, “1970”, “Fun House”). Still, I love to hear the roots of the genre. Everyone from the Wire to Fugazi to Nirvana to NOFX owes to the music of the The Stooges. And just as Iggy created his persona out of his idols (Jim Morrison in particular), countless others would study and follow in Iggy’s steps. Shit, Ozzy should be sending him regular royalty checks.

Wire - 154

Release Date: September, 1979

★★★★★ Tracks:

The 15th

On Returning

I hadn't ever given this record a chance because, up until just a couple of weeks ago, I didn't even like its predecessor. What I did remember of 154 the first (and probably only) time I heard it was that they reinvented themselves all over again, and I wasn't happy with the results. But with a different outlook on Wire's post-Pink Flag output, I could come in to 154 the second time around with a more appreciative ear.

The first thing that strikes me is the ever-increasing presence of bassist and vocalist, Graham Lewis. While his name appears in the credits a couple of times on the previous two records, he is responsible for writing close to half the songs here. And whereas we usually hear him contribute with the occasional back-up vocals, on 154 he takes lead on all the songs he wrote. As admirable as it is that Wire continually updates their sound, this time by adding a new voice to the fold, I'm just not sure I'll ever warm up to Lewis's gothic, spoken-word style lead vocals.

However I learned my lesson with Chairs Missing not to give up on a Wire album based off of a few listens. The two previous records didn't floor me on first impression, and 154 is no different. By the time I got acquainted with a few of Colin Newman's tracks, I found myself adding them to my favorite playlist. No matter how punk rock Wire might be, Newman can write a killer pop hook, as evidenced in "the 15th."

154 could include Newman's softest material to date, but it's all pretty phenomenal. And songs like "On Returning" and "Map Ref 41°N 93°W" also have that defining Wire punk-rock sound I've grown so fond off.

I'm definitely going to be keeping this record, I already like the "Newman half" of it. As for Graham, I'm just not a fan of his work like I am Newman's, or both of theirs collaboratively. Still, I hated Chairs Missing for quite a while, and now I think it just about matches Pink Flag punch for punch. So maybe I'll revisit this yet again a year or so down the road and absolutely love it.

Wire - Chairs Missing

Release Date: August, 1978

★★★★★ Tracks:

Another the Letter

Heartbeat

Outdoor Miner

I downloaded Chairs Missing soon after I heard Pink Flag, looking forward to another 18 tracks of chaotic punk rock. But that's not anything close to what I got. Where's all that sloppy guitar distortion I loved? Where's the speed? What happened to the minute long punk songs? What's with the synthesizer? What the hell happened to Wire?! After a few spins I shelved it (or unchecked it, in iTunes terms), thinking Wire had gone soft. And I came in to this post fully prepared to take a nice bloggy shit all over Chairs Missing.

After my first time re-listening through, sometime last week, I was still pretty sure I felt the same way about it. By the second time, without my knowing it, my foot, like it had a mind of its own, began tapping to the slow-building momentum of "Heartbeat." As I noticed I quickly stopped myself, cursing at my foot for sending conflicting thoughts to my mind. Now I couldn't help but pay closer attention, and almost to my dismay, I found bits and pieces of songs I began to like: "Another the Letter's" synths were actually great, "Men 2nd" had a great guitar riff and a distinct rockabilly feel to it. And then I got to "Outdoor Miner," something of an ode to Velvet Underground, and I was hooked. I woke up the next morning and all I could think was 'I can't wait to play Chairs Missing on my commute to work.' No use resisting it.

You got me Wire.

Chairs Missing is easily one of the strangest records I have ever heard. The first track, "Practice Makes Perfect," sounds like it could be the background music to a horror film, with eerie guitars and click-calickity drums, demonic sounding laughter, and ever-increasing panic in Colin's voice as he screams "Waiting for us!," which slowly builds in to anti-climactic chaos. It's not even close to one of my favorites on the album, and exemplifies why first impressions based off of one song can really hurt a record's chances of ever reeling you in. But isn't it ballsy to start off your sophomore release with a track as weird as this one?

"French Film Blurred" begins with another dark, creepy guitar riff and combines with Colin Newman's gloomy voice, and again, it consistently builds but never quite punches it home. The first thrown changeup and a personal favorite comes next, the synth fueled 1:08 long, "Another the Letter." "Men 2nd" gives us a reminder Wire is a punk rock band before we're warped back in to yet another anti-climactic track in "Marooned," a disturbing song about a sailor. And by now one might gather one of Wire's primary intentions for Chairs Missing -- to make a record of constant chaotic tension and unease; to create a sort of musical anxiety that is rarely relaxed. The best track on Chairs Missing and one of the best examples of Wire's intentions is "Heartbeat," which has the feel that it's going to break loose at any moment, but just adds a sliver of a payoff. It makes it all the more addicting to keep coming back to:

"I feel icy
I feel cold
I feel old
Is there something here behind me?
I'm sublime

I feel empty
I feel dark
I remark
I am mesmerized
By my own beat
Like a heartbeat
(In it's own beat)"

Wire add a couple upbeat and not-so-gloomy tracks in to the mix as well, and somehow they fit in perfectly. "Sand In My Joints" and "Another the Letter" are examples but "Outdoor Miner" is the biggest outlier. A throwback to the 60's, it's probably the poppiest song Wire had written yet:

There's no doubting Chairs Missing isn't for everyone. Shit, it wasn't even for me until just last week. To say this album requires patience is a vast understatement, and an interesting exercise on how easily I/we can give up on a record based off of minimal exposure. Once I found a couple of tracks to latch on to, I really began to appreciate what Wire was attempting to create: a slow-building, tense and creepy art-rock record that rewards listeners for repeated listens. I can see how Wire continues to influence modern rock with Chairs Missing. I hear Fugazi again in "Heartbeat," I hear TV On the Radio in "Used To," I can hear its influence on goth and industrial rock, and I can still hear those punk rock roots embedded within. While Pink Flag still has the upper hand, Chairs Missing, just from my time with it in the past week, has definitely become the more interesting record of the two. I'm not quite sure I've ever experience a rock record quite as weird as Chairs Missing, and I'm not sure I ever will.

Wire - Pink Flag

Release Date: December, 1977

★★★★★ Tracks:

Three Girl Rhumba

Ex Lion Tamer

Lowdown

Mannequin

I picked up this bad boy on vinyl a while back, as it's simply one of the best punk records ever. Pink Flag practically invented an entire genre of punk-rock and hardcore that blew up in the 80's. Black Flag and its most prominent member, Henry Rollins, list them as an influence. The Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and many, many others are direct disciples of Pink Flag, borrowing the moody punk sound and the brisk song length. And I'm pretty sure you could find a teenage Ian MacKaye playing guitar in his bedroom, spinning this record, probably drawing "X's" on his hands, and gathering ideas for two of the 80's and 90's most influential alternative groups, Minor Threat and Fugazi. "Lowdown" especially sounds like it could fit in one of Fugazi's early records:

Before Pink Flag was released in 1977, punk rock was still in its stages of infancy, and at that time still upbeat and poppy for the most part. The Ramones were said to have been channeling pop and surf rock from the Beach Boys, surely most of us hear traces of the Kinks and the Stones when listening to the Sex Pistols, and the Clash we're experimenting with some of the most upbeat music you could find in reggae. While all these artists we're punk's founders, Wire expanded its boundaries even further. Yea, they continued in the tradition of politicizing the lyrics and building a lot of their tracks using the increasingly popular "power chord." But make no mistake about it, Wire added their very own take to the genre. First, they stripped the music down to it a very raw form: one guitar, one bass guitar, drums, and vocals, sometimes talked, sometimes sang, and sometimes screamed. With all the pieces in place, Wire crafted Pink Flag to be even heavier than any of the punk rock that preceded it, which many found -- with all of the guitar distortion, fast drum beats and blaring vocals -- to be overbearing to the ears already. They also condensed songs in to incredibly tiny packets, with five tracks clocking in at under 1:00, and only three (out of 21) over the 3:00 mark, none pass 4:00. The compact, short, guitar-driven track, and the emphasis of lyrics focusing on the decay of the democratic society would, and continues to be, a staple of punk rock music. Here's "Field Day For the Sundays," clocking in at a whopping 28 seconds (the youtube clip takes 5 seconds before the track begins):

"I wanna be a field day for the Sundays so they can fuck up my life.
Embarass my wife, and leave a bad taste.
That striped toothpaste can't remove on Monday mornings.
I wanna be a target for the dailies so they can show.
Pictures of me with a nude on page three, so lacking in taste.
Touched up near the waist, looking as limp as Monday morning."

Wire don't completely snub pop-lovers. With Pink Flag covering 21 tracks, there are a few upbeat songs that break the album's mostly brooding tone up nicely. And their most radio-friendly song on the album, "Mannequin," turns out to be my favorite of them all. Maybe that makes me some sort of poser, but c'mon, click below and tell me this isn't catchy! The lyrics, focusing on a person singer Colin Newman does not hold in high regard, contrasts the instrumentation with a good sense of humor.

There is no reason a self-proclaimed punk fan shouldn't give this record a few spins, at the very least. If you're a child of the 80's and 90's, and ever listened to Minor Threat, Fugazi, NOFX... shit, even Rancid or the Offspring, you are doing those bands a disservice by not seeking out their biggest influences: Wire, Ramones, Sex Pistols, and yes, the Clash (I'm not a huge fan of the Clash, so there goes my cred right out the window, I'm sure you'll tell me. But stick around and we'll get there eventually.). I could see strictly pop lovers having some reservations with a record full of heavy-hitting, politically and socialistically charged 1:00 long punk tracks. But Pink Flag would eventually be an influence on the pop world as well: I don't think Green Day would be where they are now, American Idiot Broadway show and all, without the contributions of Wire, and especially Pink Flag.

Three Girl Rhumba video on tumblr.