album // Wire
Recorded in Berlin with producer Gareth
Jones, The Ideal Copy found Wire
- Colin Newman, Graeme Lewis,
Bruce Gilbert and Robert Gotobed
- reconvening to record their first album since 1979's 154.
The sound Wire produced in their second incarnation
was sleek and dynamic. The fuzz and punkishness of their Seventies
material was eschewed in favour of a brand of art-pop that few other
bands at the time opted to follow. In the 'dugga-dugga-dugga' guitar
rhythm that characterised this period, they developed a version
of the motorik grooves crafted by Neu! and other Krautrockers which
equally anticipated the minimalism of techno. The amorphously-lengthed
'Drill', which came to represent Eighties Wire's definitive statement
stretched this to most acute dimensions, and is included here (as
a bonus track).
Wire had reformed sporadically for odd concerts
between 154 and The Ideal Copy, but never with
an eye to recording new material. Ensconcing themselves in Berlin
with Jones, tensions ran high. According to Exploded Views,
Newman quit the band at one point and The Ideal Copy seemed
doomed to never being completed. When asked about the sessions,
Jones told me there was 'nothing printable' he could say. That probably
says it all. Yet, for all the background issues, The Ideal Copy
is a brilliant album, showcasing Wire's then-new, digitally-augmented
1980s style.
Some of my favourite Eighties Wire songs are here
- the dark pop of 'Ahead', and 'Ambitious', which finds Lewis snarling
his way through a vocal that, were it not for its opaque lyrics,
processed beats and harsh electronically-enhanced riffs, would have
been perfectly suited to Pink Flag's spikier moments. Referencing
their earliest recorded outputs, in the section where Lewis reels
off a load of acronyms, he throws in '12XU'. Neat. The start-stop
'Cheeking Tongues', gleefully sung by Newman takes the 'dugga' rhythm
but uses little vocal clips to achieve what the guitar does similarly
on 'Drill'.
One of the best tracks is the minimally dystopian
'Over Theirs', where a dark, chugging riff over the chorus gives
this a sparse edginess, like Wire remixing Curtis Mantronic's electro.
Spirals of treated guitar and judicious reverb add to the sinister
mood. In contrast, 'Madman's Honey' is positively joyous. Playful,
almost ska-like with delicate and quite pleasant sounds, it's Wire-does-pop,
only rendered utterly other by lyrics which even Newman doesn't
proclaim to understand. ('Who's Lubert Das?' I asked him once. 'You'd
better ask Graham,' he replied, presumably similarly perplexed).
The opener, 'Point Of Collapse' on the other hand is arch and wry.
'Feed Me' is significantly at odds with other,
more rhythmically-attuned songs on the album. Sung by Lewis, his
vocal is accompanied by shards of static-y distorted guitars and
subtle bass sounds; it's certainly a product of the artier / complex
end of the Wire canon, not unlike some of the soundscaping Industrial
work he and Gilbert crafted as Dome / Cupol
/ P'o. 'Still Shows' is a slow-building piece,
sung by Newman in a dry, detached style, layers of guitars becoming
more pronounced and distorted to provide a mechanical sound not
dissimilar to a detuned drum machine.
CD bonus tracks abound: the entire Snakedrill
EP, an alternative version of 'Ahead', plus live tracks from Berlin
- the louche 'Ambulance Chasers', which wouldn't appear as a studio
track until WMO's Coatings compilation; 'Vivid Riot Of
Red', aka Snakedrill's 'Up To The Sun'; plus Newman's live
version of 'Feed Me'.
lp/c/cd:
1. Point Of Collapse
2. Ahead
3. Madman's Honey
4. Feed Me
5. Ambitious
6. Cheeking Tongues
7. Still Shows
8. Over Theirs
9. Ahead (II) - CD bonus track
10. A Serious Of Snakes - CD bonus track
11. Drill - CD bonus track
12. Advantage In Height - CD bonus track
13. Up To The Sun - CD bonus track
14. Ambulance Chasers - CD bonus track
15. Feed Me (II) - CD bonus track
16. Vivid Riot Of Red - CD bonus track
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