Wire — seminal art-punks, tunesmiths extraordinaire, Britpop-era heroes — are also exemplary heritage-rockers, as fiercely productive and forward-looking in their fourth decade together as they were in their first.

Debuting in early '77, Wire's genius lay in a measured but no less galvanizing channelling of punk's furious energy. In their inaugural lifespan, they spewed forth clipped, meticulously targeted blasts of punk-pop melody, built out of arresting noises and bile, and soon developed their own experimental tangents beyond three-chord orthodoxy, before crash-'n'-burning — all inside of four years. Resurfacing mid-'80s, such explorations continued, between the apparently irreconcilable poles of shimmering guitar-pop and avant-garde abstraction.

Since their third lease of life commenced in Y2K, Wire have happily exploited "reunion fever": in '03 they crowd-pleasingly ripped through '77's Pink Flag album in its entirety, but in the next breath presented their latest squalling transmission, Send. Thereafter, '08's Object 47 edged closer to the out-and-out melodicism of vintage classics like "Outdoor Miner." With Red Barked Tree, they've arrived at the motherlode — a batch of some of their very catchiest tunes, unlike anyone else's, and equally unlike any of their own pre-existing oeuvre.

Curtain-raiser "Please Take," written by bassist Graham Lewis, ushers in a sound with all… read more »