Wire – Ex Lion Tamer

Last week I went to see Lee Ranaldo and the Dust, which I highly recommend if they come to your area. It was a small place, tickets were only $15, can’t go wrong. Toward the end of the show they played Fragile off of Wire’s album Pink Flag. (It sounded about like this, if you’re curious.)

Pink Flag is such a great album. 21 tracks in just about 35 minutes. Hugely influential. Since I bought my copy when I was in college it’s a record, and although my turntable works just fine, you can only use it if you do not move. Not even a tiny bit. The house is more than 150 years old and the floors all creak and bend when you take a step so even someone walking in a different part of the house will cause the needle to skip. It’s not an album I can sit still while listening to.

A month or two ago I found a copy of the CD at the library. I listened to it just about every day of the three weeks I was allowed to have it out on loan. Especially in the car. It’s hard to pick a favorite track but I kept hitting repeat on Ex Lion Tamer. I just love the way he sings, “Fish fingers all in a line.”