Wire – Chairs Missing
When the U.K. punk scene was beginning to crawl out of the dank, armpit venues of the London underground and become an accepted phenomenon – streets now littered with ripped leather jackets and shaven heads – art school act Wire tottered between their early punk roots and a spreading east European electronic influence.
While their ‘77 debut Pink Flag is still held in high regard for its stripped melodies and seemingly toss-off production, their more focussed follow-up Chairs Missing a year later was a marked evolution in sound. Still holding onto the potent brevity of most punk songs, clocking in more often than not at about two-and-a-half minutes, Wire allowed themselves to sprawl out into more experimental modes with the staccato swell of “Heartbeat” and overlong “Mercy.”
This is apparent right up front with the opener “Practice Makes Perfect” that reminds of the atmospherics laden, prog-rock acts of the coming decade, and which still surfaces in the much-influenced Sonic Youth and Spoon of today.
Reference: AllMusic “Album of the Day” album overview
Reference: Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums of the ’70s”