It’s called Object 47 because it’s the 47th item in Wire’s discography, a matter-of-fact naming policy entirely in keeping with the straight-ahead, no-frills new wave on offer here. Of course, Wire pretty much invented straight-ahead, no-frills new wave (as flagrant imitators such as Elastica would attest, were they still around), so we’re not especially surprised by that; but Wire did that 30 years ago, so we are surprised to find that their songs are still propelled forward with the kinetic energy of a band a 10th their age. The lyrics are as impenetrable as ever: All Fours, the closing track of nine, might be about climate change or it might be using climate change as a metaphor for something, or it might be neither of the above. So we listen instead to the endless supply of buzzy guitar micro-riffs, and marvel at how a band can work in such limited territory and yet keep everything so fresh.

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