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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No blind spots in the leopard's eyes
Can only help to jeopardize
The lives of lambs, the shepherd cries
An afterlife for a silverfish
Eternal dust less ticklish
Than the clean room, a houseguest's wish
He lies on his side, is he trying to hide?
In fact it's the earth, which he's known since birth
Face worker, a serpentine miner
A roof falls, an underliner
Of leaf structure, the egg timer