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http://www.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/fde528df95e3d189200fa62598724f30ce7e3236.jpg Red Barked Tree

Wire

Red Barked Tree

Pink Flag
Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
5 3 0
February 15, 2011

On their awesome 2003 comeback set, Send, these UK art punks didn't just recapture the ferocity of their influential 1977 debut, Pink Flag — they exceeded it, like pitbulls gone rabid. Maybe with less to prove, the shapeshifters make some of their prettiest music ever here; apocalyptic vibe notwithstanding, the strummy guitar wash of "Adapt" wouldn't sound too out of place on a Coldplay CD. Which is not to say they don't still spit venom. "Fuck off out of my face" sings a cool-headed Colin Newman on the dreamy "Please Take." And on "Two Minutes," he conducts a non-sequitur debate with what sounds like a TV announcer over grinding guitars, sneering "I'll tell you who I hate on a daily basis." Now that'd be a show worth watching.

Listen to "Two Minutes":

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