Post Punk is such a wide genre, but when I see a band label themselves such I am always drawn to check it out. Think about it, not only chronologically open end but encompassing all of the myriad experimentations and musical gene-splicing that took place as punk imploded on itself. Somehow, Cross Wires manage to encompass a lot of what the genre represents by doing some interesting generic juggling.
Stretching across those intervening 35 years theirs is a sound that could have been heard supporting Gang of Four back in the day, The Libertines as the millennium loomed or The Arctic Monkeys next week. They manage to combine raw, staccato Clash drives, buoyant not quite ska infectiousness, and the modish strut of the Jam and temper it all with wonderful contemporary melody. It’s punk with intelligence as well as attitude, it’s post punk that hasn’t forgotten its snotty roots, it’s indie from the wrong side of the tracks. It’s great.
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