Back where I'm from the Wire debate always came down to this album versus Pink Flag, and for me it was never a question -- this one, all the way. No short song conceits, just raw blasts of jagged sound describing and demarcating any number of strange spaces complete with height, width, and depth, big enough to step into, if you wanted. Anxiety remains the order of the day and it didn't help (or should I say hurt) that throughout it's as convincing, incoherent, and overwhelmingly powerful as it is methodical and tidy. Every shred of feedback, every ringing chord, every frog-bass croak from the singer remains numbing, exhilarating, and bone-chilling. It's also tuneful. Art-rock this good should be against the law?
Friday, June 08, 2007
154 (1979)
Back where I'm from the Wire debate always came down to this album versus Pink Flag, and for me it was never a question -- this one, all the way. No short song conceits, just raw blasts of jagged sound describing and demarcating any number of strange spaces complete with height, width, and depth, big enough to step into, if you wanted. Anxiety remains the order of the day and it didn't help (or should I say hurt) that throughout it's as convincing, incoherent, and overwhelmingly powerful as it is methodical and tidy. Every shred of feedback, every ringing chord, every frog-bass croak from the singer remains numbing, exhilarating, and bone-chilling. It's also tuneful. Art-rock this good should be against the law?
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