Your History Defaced – Cross Wires (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Remember when punk was in its infancy and was still finding its way? No rules, no uniform, no expectation and every expectation all at once. Three-minute pop songs being put through the blender and served up to thirsty and disenfranchised musical customers. Remember a few years later when punk had out stayed its welcome and musicians were leaving the sinking ship and turning on to new ideas and creating their own musical genres? Remember when ska was having its resurgence and the resulting Two-Tone movement threw out some cool bands before the lager louts and the gimmickry took over? Cross Wires seem to exist in all of these transitional periods simultaneously.

Straddling punk, new-wave, mod and with a strange ska dancability creeping in as well they seem to be able to create something fresh out of totally recognisable past musical themes. Maybe it is a case of raking over the hot coals to re-ignite old flames or taking familiar building blocks and re-assembling them in to new shapes. Either way, it is a combination of – “you have heard it all before” and “you haven’t heard anything like this,” both at the same time. A neat trick if you can pull it off. Cross Wires certainly do.