Know Your Enemy

The problem with new albums by artists you love is that they may suck. Or they may have gone in a direction that doesn't interest you. Or it may be so incredible that it becomes your favorite album. Musically it's a solid progression, with the energy of Motown Junk and the complexity of This is my truth. Dealing subversive intellectual rhetoric with sharp rock songs, the manics are the best band you never heard of. A one-off single earlier this year (The Masses Against the Classes) opened with a Noam Chomsky sound bite leading into a raucous attitude laden track that gave the lie to the critics who said they'd "gone soft". They regularly make the album of the year lists in all the British music mags, and view their lack of corresponding US success as symbolic of the anti-intellectualism of the US music scene.

The album is deliciously eclectic, starting off with one of the two lead singles (released simultaneously, no prospective US release of them) Found That Soul. A song of alienation and longing solipsism, aggressive and highlighting the sort of self focused intellectualism that made Holy Bible so brilliant. "show me a wonder you can't be sure of/I exist in a place a self made vacuum"

Ocean Spray. Introspection on the beach. A cliche that has been overdone to say the least. So why is it that the truly emotional guitar work and the incisive lyrics are so fresh and groundbreaking? James penned the lyrics for this one, and he should really think about collaborating with Nicky more on lyrics as he's quite good. And Sean appears with another stunning trumpet solo. The fact that it's about his mother on her death bed just makes it that more intense. "it's easy to feel it's easy to feel/but it's not good enough even though it's real"

Intravenous Agnostic. An ode to superficial culture and to wanting something more meaningful. Definitely something that GnR would've aspired to had they not self destructed. "brutality is needed in a capitilast society"

So Why So Sad. A much more low key tune, and in the Manics canon actually may qualify as a love song. It certainly has a slight upbeat mood to it, though it never becomes soppy. "things get clear when I feel free/when whatever next comes easily"

Let Robeson Sing. A tribute to Paul Robeson, African-American lawyer, singer, activist, and communist. Consider it sort of a modern protest song, but with a Hammond going along with the acoustic guitar. "a voice so pure, a vision so clear"

The Year Of Purification. I expected a throwback to Bible, but was pleasantly surprised, more like the b-sides from Everything Must Go, almost a 70's rock feel to it. "detoxification/purification/the ravaged corner/cold and embittered"

Wattsville Blues. Wire sings! While he doesn't have nearly the voice that James does, he does well in the context of this very techno/punk track. James picks up the chorus with him, and it works wonderfully. The song is about how wonderful it is to live in Wales (this may be meant ironically, given their past comments about it and tracks such as Design For Life) "I got the wattsville blues, I got nothin to lose now baby"

Miss Europa Disco Dancer. The Bee Gees live. It's not as horrible as it sounds. Musically it makes sense, and the point of the song is pointing out how wonderful people thought life was when they were living in the disco in the 70's (or 80's, or 90's) and how the reality comes to smack you in the head. However, it's easily my least favorite song of theirs. "so messed up the world turns grey/am washed up with debts to pay"

Dead Martyrs. One could easily see this as a tribute to Richey. The very unsubtle text of the song is about people who died too young and without fulfilling what they could have acheived. Sparse lyrics backed by a seriously rock track. "had a beginning but it got no end"

His Last Painting. A haunting guitar line supports a story about an artist who feels that his audience has taken over his life and he can't continue. "the nothing in me/the apostle in me/no interpretation/for the heart of me"

My Guernica. This could be related to the above track, as the title is a reference to Picasso's Guernica. It takes a jangly guitar line supported by the now familiar Hammond to surround a song that is subtitled Subconscious Abstraction in the liner notes. "I'm small and I am tired/I'm blurred to bits and wired"

The Convalescent. Again with the stark minimally overdriven guitars. I must say that the tone James gets on this album is unreal, you have to hear it. Wire expands upon his infamous agoraphobia and how he lives in his room as much as he can. "my bedroom wall recalls what's in my head/a collage constructed and constantly fed"

Royal Correspondent. The subtext here is a little obscure, I would venture that it is directed at a friend of Wire. It is accompanied by an acoustic dirge that would have made Cobain proud. "you've been the same since school/dysfunctional translucent/royalty on your wall/so desperately mundane"

Epicentre. Piano heavy and plodding, but in a good way. James sings soulfully about centering yourself by whatever means necessary. "non existent energy, adrenalin my god/still clinging to the umbilical chord"

Baby Elian. Easily the song I dreaded hearing the most after seeing the track list. I agree with the sentiment behind it, but lyrically it is heavy handed and cumbersome and I don't really think there is any way to approach the subject without it being so. A shame really, as there are some sharp insights in the midst of it. Accompanied by an oddly understated soundtrack, but it does work well. "across the unfair divide where black will never meet white"

Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children. Need I say more? Angry guitars power this polemic about empty rhetoric. "freedom of speech won't feed my children/just brings heart disease and bootleg clothing"

Hot Spots: My Guernica, Found That Soul, Ocean Spray, Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children