Wire

Wire formed in London in 1976, Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, and Robert Gotobed developing a sound that was simultaneously rooted in punk and completely opposed to its excesses. Where punk was loud and aggressive, Wire were minimal and precise. Their songs were short, angular, and stripped of everything unnecessary — the musical equivalent of Bauhaus architecture.

'Pink Flag' (1977) was the debut — twenty-one songs in thirty-five minutes, most of them under two minutes long. The brevity was a statement: Wire were not interested in rock excess. 'Chairs Missing' (1978) and '154' (1979) pushed further into electronic and experimental territory, each album a significant departure from the last. The trilogy is one of the most important bodies of work in British music.

Wire disbanded in 1980 and reformed in 1985, releasing a series of more electronic-influenced albums. They have continued to record and tour with remarkable consistency, their influence on subsequent generations of art-rock and post-punk bands impossible to overstate. R.E.M., Elastica, and countless others have cited Wire as a primary influence.