After a long hiatus in the '90s, British art-punk pioneers Wire preemptively spit in the face of anybody who might dare suggest they'd tamed with age on their harsh 2003 reunion disc Send. Though it certainly proved their point, it was a hard album to love. In truth, as crucial as it is to the band's reputation, noise was never what Wire did best. The group was always at their sharpest when they were subverting familiar pop structures, be it through the melodic post-punk of their late-'70s masterpieces Chairs Missing and 154, or the brainy dance-pop of their overlooked '80s records. The band seems to acknowledge that on their excellent new Red Barked Tree, the closest sequel to 154 they've ever made. As on that record, Wire balances nihilistic, rock tantrums with bushy-tailed pop songs, though Red Barked Tree's pop moments are infinitely more cynical than 154's optimistic affirmations. Unsentimental and jarringly violent, even its most inviting tracks suggest a lingering sense of doom.
Also out this week:
Cake's new Showroom of Compassion is the band's first album in seven years, though you'd never guess that much time had passed hearing it. Cut from this same cloth as 2004's Pressure Chiefand for that matter the Cake records that came before itthis is Cake exactly as you remember them.
Fallen buzz band Tapes N' Tapes self-released their new record Outside, a party-killing tribute to '90s indie rock that goes in one ear and out the other.
Just in case Corey Hart is looking to update his at-bat music, Cage The Elephant has a new record, Thank You Happy Birthday.
And British Sea Power's new Valhalla Dancehall will never be anybody's at-bat music, unless the Pirates get desperate and start drafting staffers from NME.
