Clocking in at an economical 26 minutes, Wire’s 15th LP could be considered a “mini-album” by today’s standards, but since the rejuvenated post-punks have influenced everyone from The Cure to Black Flag over their 40-plus year career, we’ll let them call it what they want. Essentially a record made up of songs picked up from the cutting room floor, Nocturnal Koreans started out life as material intended for last year’s self titled record, which the English rockers then reshaped into something new.
The results are a proverbial mixed-bag, shaped by the notion that any studio trickery is fair game if it makes the song better. Fuelled by Krautrock, dance and experimental music, the hypnotic, horn-led ‘Internal Exile’ and the weird but wonderful ‘Forward Position,’ which features a clanging plague bell and moody melodies, are sure to worm their way into the hearts of Wire fans. The other eight tracks... perhaps not so much. Plodding offerings such as ‘Still’ and ‘Fishes Bones’ add nothing, making it hard to escape the feeling that the salvaged material are merely “songs which weren’t good enough to make the first cut.”

Rating: 5/10