Wire - Chairs Missing
'Chairs Missing', the follow up to Wire's adrenalin rush of a debut album 'Pink Flag' is a challenging yet rewarding listen. Themes of darkness and despondency are abundant throughout and indeed, the album title itself is a reference to mental instability and there is no let up in the album's lyrics or the disturbing jagged and angular music onto which these words are painted. It is at times an extremely unsettling yet brilliant piece of work which reveals itself to the listener with every play. Issues include S&M - ('Practice Makes Perfect'), homocide - ('French Film Blurred'), isolation - ('marooned') and drowning - ('Men 2nd').
The suicide themed 'Another The Letter' is typically Wire - 1 minute and 6 seconds in length but without a single second wasted as keyboards swirl, guitars puncture and harmonies build to an abrupt, sudden climax.
The single 'I Am The Fly' is the menacing, chugging highlight of the album while 'Outdoor Miner' is on the surface an irresistable pop song, scratch the surface however and the lyrics reveal an obscurity and darkness to match every other track here.
Brooding, menacing, dark, unsettling, sometimes vibrant, definitely timeless. 'Chairs Missing' is an album that reveals it's hidden secrets to the listener over repeated listens, I simply never get bored of listening to this, Wires' masterpiece.
Official reissue on Pink Flag Records.