Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/15/2008
Although a playful, self-referential title marks the 47th entry in
Wire's discography, the band definitely isn't looking back. Some familiar motifs inevitably resurface, but there's no such thing as a predictable
Wire album: that's especially true of this, their first without guitarist
Bruce Gilbert. Overall,
Object 47 is the antithesis of
Send, its immediate predecessor.
Send was wonderfully claustrophobic and compressed, painted mostly in aggressive, industrial-sized brush strokes eschewing nuance and variation and emphasizing surface over depth;
Object 47 trades harsh monochrome for expansive wide-screen color and a pronounced melodic sensibility. Across these nine tracks, diverse new textures and dimensions emerge and, despite being typically elliptical, the words communicate a broader emotional range than
Send displayed, with its tendency towards terse phrase-clusters. From the outset,
Wire is a band reborn and reenergized. The anthemic
"One of Us" sets the agenda, propelled by
Graham Lewis and
Robert Grey's relentless rhythms. Its lyrics stand in tonal contrast to the music (a trademark
Wire tactic): "one of us will live to rue the day we met each other" warns
Colin Newman, against the grain of the singalong bounce. Regardless of their legendary artistic contrariness,
Wire always deliver catchy songs and, in addition to the opener,
Object 47 boasts several. On
"Perspex Icon," the combination of stop-start buzzsaw guitar rhythms with
Newman's bright, tuneful vocal proves highly infectious. Equally memorable are
Lewis' turns at the mic -- the funky
"Are You Ready?" and
"Mekon Headman," a denser, more insistent number accentuating the minimalist cymbal detail
Grey minted on
Pink Flag.
Object 47 highlights
Wire's pop credentials, but the band hasn't lost its edge. Tempo changes punctuate
Massive Attack-style rolling dread on the hefty
"Hard Currency"; by contrast,
"All Fours" hammers out rigid, astringent grooves as guest guitarist
Page Hamilton plugs in with a feedback squall that adds extra menace to the album's apocalyptic coda.
~Wilson Neate, All Music Guide
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