Unlike the majority of their first-wave punk peers, London's Wire haven't retreated to the dinner theater circuit in order to treat middle-agers to a rush of rebellion along with their fish 'n' chips. But, since they've gotta make a living -- preferably without lifting so much as a finger in some dreary day job -- the members have managed to return to their vaults again and again, bearing an endless supply of "long-lost" aural memories.

Just in time for the holidays -- we can recommend 'em as particularly fine Guy Fawkes Day listening -- Wire have conjured up three new releases laden with enough uneasy listening to erase all thoughts of "how can we miss you if you won't go away." Most interesting is Turns & Strokes, a reworked version of the album that chronicled their final days as a band -- with the addition of nine live songs recorded on their last ever performance.

Diehards will also appreciate the surfacing of P'O -- a seminal, yet almost-unheard '83 recording by stalwarts Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis, but for those who think of Wire as something you hang pictures with, the clincher will be Dugga Dugga Dugga. The disc contains fourteen separate versions of "Drill," the first song conceived by the band after ending their five-year "hibernation" in 1985, each recorded by a different artist -- with contributors including Chris & Cosey (of Throbbing Gristle fame), Euro electro-sensation Solex, Brad Laner (of Medicine and Amnesia) and the Ex-Lion Tamers.

DAVID SPRAGUE