Our thoughts on other people's albums

Punk was never meant to fit in. But after the first social boundaries were broke in the late-'70s, the Outsider became his own mainstream institution. Three chords were, and are, the new pop standard. Through sheer invention and walls of unmercifully taut guitar noise, however, Britain's Wire avoided the co-opt tractor beam. These guys saw reinvention as a daily ritual; the breakneck speed of 1977's Pink Flag gave way to 154's electro-punk. Their 10-year hiatus (during which new punks copped their style en masse) ended with a 2000 reunion show. Unlike most retreads by old dudes, theirs yielded a vital new chaos machine. This ain't no hit-playing reunion tour-Wire is still relevant because no one can ever predict the art school degenerates' next thrilling move.