reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Wire - Object 47

As seminal as Wire is, the band refuses to coast on its well-deserved legacy as one of rock's most musically innovative and lyrically profound outfits. Object 47 is the first Wire album in four years but rather than sounding over-cooked, it instead showcases all the band's strengths, from the propulsive, infectious opener "One of Us," to the dark, pulsing syncopations of "Hard Currency" to the driving pop of "Perplex Icon" the band sounds engaged and genuinely inspired, typified by singer/guitarist Colin Ne wman, whose subtle vocals are infused with conviction. Bassist and vocalist Graham Lewis writes most of the lyrics, which touch on communication breakdown, societal disintegration, insanity and apocalypse - topics relevant to all times, but especially timely now. On the album's opener Newman asks, "What happened to our plan/The one that we began?/Are you an also-ran?/Finished? Inconsequential?" As that question applies to Wire, the answer would be a resounding no.- Robert Mortellaro