Close your eyes and transport to the Camden Town punk scene of the ’80s
British punk band Wire released an official copy of their demo tape Not About To Die on June 24. A bootleg copy of the tape containing demos recorded for their second and third albums was initially released—or leaked—in the ’80s through Amnesia Records. The initial leak was low-quality audio, likely due to being recorded through second or third-generation cassettes. Thus, for the official recording, the band remastered the original demos to be released as a proper record.
As a whole, the album contains an easily recognizable sound and aura of British punk through everything from the accents of lead vocalists Graham Lewis and Colin Newman to the punchy, quick, punky guitar in the background.
With most of the tracks on the demo lasting between one to three minutes, the songs are short and fiery, the words sometimes hard to individually decipher from one another. Yet, these are all great songs to bang one’s head to, songs that allow oneself to close their eyes and viscerally place themselves within the Camden Town punk scene of the ’80s.
“Underwater Experiences” is very much its title, with allusions to boats and water, as well as a mellowed, underwater sound to the first minute of the song. “Chairs Missing” leads in sounding suspicious, but slowly builds from a low strum to a more upbeat guitar sound, yet launches into a monotone-sounding rant that carries throughout the entirety of the tune.
The lyrics of “Ignorance No Plea” are an emotional rollercoaster, beginning with a low sound that builds into having an upbeat sound, to fade out with a psychedelic guitar strum outro.
“Once Is Enough” is a guitar-heavy song that sounds cheerier than most other tracks on the album. But despite its sanguine sound, its lyrics discuss how living once is, put simply, more than enough. In contrast, “Stepping Off Too Quick” has a beautiful intro that breaks into a lighter-sounding chorus, expressing the opposite intention about the value of life as compared to “Once.”
“Former Airline” sounds like one spiraling down a staircase, perhaps spiraling down in an airplane, like one hurtling towards destruction, which falls in line with the lyrics such as “Tell me what it’s like when you’ve seen too much.”
Many of the songs follow similar structures of starting up more quietly and then striking into action, yet they all each have their own distinct sound from one another. All in all, the official release of Not About To Die refines the grunge, bootleg tape songs into an easily digestible punk mixtape that has proven itself timeless, iconic in both lyrical content and musical sound.
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