Wire

One of the first wave of punk groups during the late 1970s, Wire was neither nihilistic in the Sex Pistols tradition nor political like the Clash. With its brief, caustic songs, Wire was closest to the Buzzcocks' brand of poppy punk, but its art-school leanings took the band into more challenging and experimental territory. The group's sound eventually progressed through dark, quirky dissonance to an ear-friendly brand of synth-pop, but Wire never lost its cheeky edge or palpable air of strangeness. In 2000, the group reformed, brandishing a highly aggressive edge that touched on its old incarnations, but also jutted out into new sonic terrain.

• rock
• pop
• punk
• pop rock
• 1970s
• 1990s
• 1980s
• hard rock/metal