Githead - 'Art Pop'

Starting with the genre-defining masterpiece Pink Flag, released in December 1977, Wire has gone on to be one of the most influential punk/post-punk bands of all time. Successive albums like Chairs Missing, 154, and even the relatively recent 2003 release Send have all expanded the group’s propulsive sound, and they’re all essential listening for fans of punk in all its forms. But such brilliance comes at a cost, as Wire is well-known for taking long hiatuses every few albums. Send, however, does not mark the beginning of a vacation for Wire frontman Colin Newman. Rather, it marks a segue into his new project Githead, which also features Newman’s wife Malka Spigel (ex-Minimal Compact), Max Franken (also ex-Minimal Compact), and Robin Rimbaud (Scanner). Having already released an EP and a full-length in the four years since Wire’s third break, Githead returns yet again in 2007 with the masterfully made, and literally titled, Art Pop.

Given his legacy, it’s hard not to use Newman’s work with Wire as a lens for interpreting Githead. Luckily, this condition doesn’t really matter, as Githead is every bit as thrilling as Wire while remaining different enough to maintain its own identity. It’s as ambient as 154, but far more lush and supple sounding. It’s got some of the drugged out noise of Send, but it’s never as grinding. Where Send recalls elements of industrial, Art Pop recalls elements of shoegaze and indie rock. Finally, nearly 30 years since Pink Flag, Art Pop retains some nervous post-punk energy on tracks like “Drive By.”

The album opens with “On Your Own,” a track that hearkens back to the fuzz of My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything, albeit with far more discernible vocals. Wire has always been more about conjuring up moods and textures than linear storytelling, and the same could sort of be said for Githead. The vocals are an instrument for painting a feeling, but not necessarily describing that feeling lyrically. This description is a roundabout way of saying that sometimes Githead’s lyrics suck. So it goes. “On Your Own” is a gorgeously atmospheric starter regardless.

Newman leads most of the tracks on Art Pop, and each one is brilliant. His songwriting has become more fluid and less herky-jerky with age, but credit for that belongs just as much to his bandmates. Everyone in this group is quite essential to the overall sound.

Spigel serves up some tasty concoctions as well. The more acoustically driven “Lifeloops” allows the album to mellow out a bit more as Spigel expounds on the human race's more pathetic elements. “Jet Ear Game” finds her speaking through a digitized voice box. Her vocals are distorted beyond recognition here, but they complement the computer bleep-like guitar work.

Art Pop is arguably one of the best albums of 2007 yet. At times reminiscent of the smart pop of Peter Gabriel and the guitar swirls of My Bloody Valentine (oh yeah, and Wire. It sounds like Wire sometimes too, if you didn’t know), Githead is atmospherically blissful and sonically delicious and/or nutritious.