hy in the world was this album even released? When Wire returned from an incredibly long absence last year with a pair of high-energy EPs, the reaction from fans was ecstatic, mostly because it was so unexpected. This foursome had long ago been written off, their increasingly bizarre synth-pop experiments largely turning off those who idolized their late ’70s triumvirate of classic albums. But their two 2002 EPs, released under the title Read & Burn on the band’s own Pinkflag label, harkened back to the band’s early intensity, but updated for the new millennium. While the first installment in the series focused on rough gutter-punk anthems, the second volume infused sleazy gothic-industrial undertones into the band’s caustic, assaultive new approach.


The promised third volume in the Read & Burn series never materialized, however; in its place, we have a new album. The catch is that Send -- the first full-length Wire album in almost 12 years -- recycles seven of its eleven tracks from the Read & Burn EPs, with only four truly new songs. For those fans who bought the EPs already, this collection is somewhat similar to those annoying greatest hits compilations that tack on one new song to screw over the completists.


That said, the album as a whole does flow nicely, and the songs from last year still sound as great and exciting as they did first time around. The anthemic “Comet” is just as snide and full of bile, still an absolute romp of blissful sarcasm. The album adds two more rockers from the first EP, “In the Art of Stopping” and “The Agfers of Kodak,” plus four tracks from the second EP. That disc’s closer “99.9” also concludes Send, and it’s a great finish: Colin Newman sounds like he’s ripping his insides apart to get every growled word out, and the band’s noisy motorik pulse provides the perfect foundation.


The album as a whole tends more towards this industrial-influenced sound, since all the new songs are basically less impressive versions of the songs found on Read & Burn 02. The sludgy, turgid “You Can’t Leave Now” is like a watered-down version of the “Read & Burn” title track, which is also included here. Similarly, “Half Eaten” sounds like a less exciting take on the second EP’s overcharged stomper “Raft Ants.” With the exception of the chugging (and brilliant) goth-pop number “Mr. Marx’s Table,” none of these new songs even come close to matching the sheer power of the material from the two EPs.


This album is an incredible disappointment- right when Wire was beginning to build up momentum; there’s not even enough new material here to fill a third EP, and the recontextualizing of the Read & Burn songs hardly makes it more worthwhile. Worst of all, it doesn’t even work as a best-of for the EPs, since the album leaves out many essential EP-only cuts, including “I Don’t Understand,” “Trash/Treasure,” and “Raft Ants.” Honestly, I just can’t imagine ever putting this on instead of playing the band’s two recent EPs.