Albums to watch

Red Barked Tree

Wire

Red Barked Tree

Twelfth studio album from the London post-punk band formed in 1976

ADM rating[?]

7.8

Label
Pink Flag
UK Release date
10/01/2011
  1. 9.0 |   The Quietus

    Sounding wholly refreshed and with big mouths intact, the trio have pulled together a freestanding, populist record with such winning flair it's hard to imagine a young British guitar band performing with as much class, purpose, or presence
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  2. 9.0 |   Rave Magazine

    It reveals the veterans sounding astonishingly youthful and adventurous
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  3. 8.5 |   BBC

    If you love alternative guitar music, you will love this, because Wire play alternative guitar music better than any young British band you can name
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  4. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    Aloof, brittle, stiff: This is Wire as it ought to be
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  5. 8.0 |   DIY

    This is music that still has the attitude, but releases it in a less ramshackle way than we’re used to
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  6. 8.0 |   Pitchfork

    Wire have successfully reinvented themselves once again, this time as wise elder statesmen
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  7. 8.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Gleeful act of sabotage or pop folly, Red Barked Tree is a worthy addition to the Wire legend
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  8. 8.0 |   Blurt

    There is no nostalgia for the old and there is no fever pitch toward the future. It's just Wire - out to ruin rock and roll
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  9. 8.0 |   NME

    11 clever tracks of unrelenting and witty pop
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  10. 8.0 |   The Scotsman

    These hoary old art rockers are required listening in 2011
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  11. 8.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Dystopic lyrics and shoegaze guitar washes
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  12. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    While it negotiates a generically complex path from druggy Britpop to a muscular power-pop via post-punk imbued with a decidedly noughties sense of irony, it does it so amazingly cleanly
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  13. 8.0 |   Eye Weekly

    Wire prove that the originators can whip the imitators
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  14. 8.0 |   The Independent

    On this showing, the feral rage of their punk youth has matured into a pleasingly poised disaffection, with no loss of acuity
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  15. 8.0 |   Uncut

    It's familiar, but different. It's Wire: Ancient And Modern
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  16. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Even at cruising speed, Wire are more compelling than most of their followers
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  17. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Compares favourably with the very best of Wire. Print edition only

  18. 8.0 |   The 405

    Can stake a good claim to being the first great album of 2011
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  19. 8.0 |   A.V. Club

    Timeless and vital, men half this age frequently struggle to make music half as good
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  20. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    They don't do arty post-punk these days, just pithy masterpieces of droll pop music
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  21. 8.0 |   The Observer

    They've remembered what it is they do best: look askance at the modern world while making a clever racket
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  22. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    It's the sound of a band still having a lot of fun. And there's not an ounce of nostalgia
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  23. 8.0 |   Clash

    More relevant today than ever before
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  24. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    The work of a still-functioning band that continues to move ahead, their progeny hanging on to every riff in an effort to mean something as well
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  25. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    Wire sound perfectly comfortable in their own skin and sense of history on Red Barked Tree
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  26. 7.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    [They] sound determined and daring on this new batch of songs, but only after a decidedly shaky start
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  27. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Red Barked Tree can stand on its own in the enduring continuum of the band's progress and not just as a pale imitation of older material
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  28. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    It proves that brevity is indeed the soul of wit, and also the soul of this seminal band who continue to astound well into their fourth decade
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  29. 7.0 |   The Fly

    In these winter months, this is a record to keep the blood flowing
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  30. 6.0 |   Q

    Sounds less like Wire than any Wire album. Print edition only

  31. 5.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    This is just another competent rock record in hock to the band Wire used to be
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