Read & Burn: A Book about Wire (Paperback)

Wilson Neate

ISBN 10: 1908279338 / ISBN 13: 9781908279330

Published by Jawbone Press, London, 2013

About this Item

Paperback. Read & Burn is the first serious, in-depth appraisal of Wire, one of the most influential British bands to emerge during the punk era. If Wire were briefly a punk band, however, it was largely by historical accident. Despite the fact that they had complicated and transformed that category almost before they'd begun, they seem never to have quite escaped the label. Be it punk, post-punk, or art-punk, critics have clung onto the p-word in an attempt to capture the essence of Wire's innovative uniqueness. But their story - which honours punk's original yet quickly forgotten commitment to the new - is one of constant remaking and remodelling, one that stubbornly resists reduction to a single identity. As a result, the group's projects have always balanced uneasily between artistic endeavour and the need for commercial sustainability, played out against the backdrop of the musicians' perennially complex creative relationships. Tracing Wire's diverse output from 1977 up until the present, Read & Burn seeks to do justice to their highly influential and restlessly inventive body of work. An insightful and in-depth account of Wire - one of the most influential British bands to emerge during the punk era. Combines analysis and interpretation with perspective drawn from exclusive interviews with past and present members of the band, and traces the band's diverse output from 1977 right up until the present day. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781908279330

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Read & Burn: A Book about Wire (Paperback)
• Publisher: Jawbone Press, London
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908279338
• ISBN 13: 9781908279330
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Read & Burn is the first serious, in-depth appraisal of Wire, one of the most influential British bands to emerge during the punk era. If Wire were briefly a punk band, however, it was largely by historical accident. Despite the fact that they had complicated and transformed that category almost before they'd begun, they seem never to have quite escaped the label. Be it punk, post-punk, or art-punk, critics have clung onto the p-word in an attempt to capture the essence of Wire's innovative uniqueness. But their story -- which honours punk's original yet quickly forgotten commitment to the new -- is one of constant remaking and remodelling, one that stubbornly resists reduction to a single identity. As a result, the group's projects have always balanced uneasily between artistic endeavour and the need for commercial sustainability, played out against the backdrop of the musicians' perennially complex creative relationships. Tracing Wire's diverse output from 1977 up until the present, Read & Burn seeks to do justice to their highly influential and restlessly inventive body of work by developing a sustained critical account of their shifting approaches. It combines analysis and interpretation with perspective drawn from exclusive interviews with past and present members of the band.

About the Author

Wilson Neate is the author of Pink Flag (Continuum 2008), a book on Wire's first album.