“Pink Flag” by Wire - album review

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TJR says

Arriving in December ’77 was the debut set from the London quartet consisting of Colin Newman (23, vocals, guitar); Graham Lewis (24, bass, vocals); Bruce Gilbert (31, guitar) and the brilliantly named Robert Gotobed (26, drums). It’s punk Jim, but not as we know it. If they were inspired by the Ramones, it was only that short-sharp blasts were all a song needs – these 21 songs were all over in 35 minutes. This was a rock lobotomy. Looking back in time, there seems to be no template for Wire’s sound. It’s a ground-zero moment for the genre that would be termed hardcore. Orthodox song structures were conspicuous by their sparsity – they seemed happy to simply revel in the glory of a particular riff, or would stop when they had said all they wanted to say in the lyrics. The second track, “Field Day For The Sundays” gets it all over and done with in just 28 seconds, blasting celebrity culture and the paparazzi in one fell swoop: “I want to be a field day for the Sundays so they can fuck up my life, embarrass my wife, and leave a bad taste”. In the very next track, who can resist imitating Newman’s nonchalant “thee impossy bowl” lyric in “Three Girl Rhumba”? And who can resist sneering whilst air guitaring that simplistic but damned catchy riff? In January ‘77, who could have foreseen that words like “asunder” would be gracing the punk vocabulary by the end of the year? As smart as eggs. Well played Wire.

The Jukebox Rebel
08–Mar–2016

Tracklist
A1 [03:03] 7.0.png Wire - Reuters (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Post-Punk
A2 [00:28] 6.4.png Wire - Field Day For The Sundays (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A3 [01:23] 7.9.png Wire - Three Girl Rhumba (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Post-Punk
A4 [02:19] 6.4.png Wire - Ex Lion Tamer (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A5 [02:26] 8.1.png Wire - Lowdown (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A6 [01:13] 7.4.png Wire - Start To Move (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A7 [00:41] 7.0.png Wire - Brazil (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A8 [00:53] 6.5.png Wire - It’s So Obvious (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A9 [01:17] 6.5.png Wire - Surgeon’s Girl (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
A10 [03:47] 8.3.png Wire - Pink Flag (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B1 [00:49] 6.3.png Wire - The Commercial (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B2 [00:44] 5.8.png Wire - Straight Line (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B3 [01:12] 6.4.png Wire - 106 Beats That (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B4 [01:25] 6.3.png Wire - Mr. Suit (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B5 [03:58] 7.3.png Wire - Strange (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Post-Punk
B6 [01:18] 5.3.png Wire - Fragile (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) New Wave
B7 [02:37] 5.8.png Wire - Mannequin (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) New Wave
B8 [00:43] 6.0.png Wire - Different To Me (Annette Green) Punk
B9 [01:46] 6.7.png Wire - Champs (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk
B10 [01:22] 7.0.png Wire - Feeling Called Love (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Proto-Punk
B11 [01:55] 6.4.png Wire - 12 X U (Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed) Punk

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