Emerging from the British punkexplosion in the 70's, Wire was formed by Graham Lewis(bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert(guitar), Colin Newman(vocals, guitar) and (drums). Their sound is often associated with a vague subgenre of punk called art punk or post-punk, mostly due to their richly detailed and atmospheric sound, often obscure lyrical themes and, to a lesser extent, their situationist political stance. The group exhibited a steady development from an early raucous style (1977's Pink Flag) to a more complex, structured sound involving increased use of synthesizers (1978's Chairs Missing and 1979's 154). As a result, they had a tremendous influence through later decades on a variety of bands and rock music genres, notably in The Urinals, The Minutemen, R.E.M., who covered "Strange" on their Document album and most recently, Bloc Party, Futureheads and Franz Ferdinand. Ian MacKaye of hardcore punk band Minor Threat was also a big fan of the band.
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The time is too short
but never too long
to reach ahead,
to project the image,
which will in time become a concrete dream.
Another cigarette,
another day,
from A to B,
again avoiding C, D, and E,
'cause E is where you play the blues.
Avoiding a death
is to win the game,
to avoid relegation,
the big E.
Drowning in the big swim,
rising to the surface
The smell of you
That's the lowdown