Wire – 23 Years Too Late

The Song : from from Read & Burn 03 PLUS an expanded version of 2007’s Read & Burn 03

The Video : made by Malcolm Boyle who says “ it showcases material from the upcoming documentary Wire – People in a Film. I personally think these particular clips give a strong sense of the unique character and absurd humour of the band“
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Read & Burn 03 PLUS Press Release
Deconstructing the narrative whilst remaining two steps ahead, Wire are both the mavericks and yet the outer limits of a certain kind of pop. Their
endless reinvention and longevity underlines their innovation and yet only Wire can revisit their own past and make it still sound like a future shock.
For Record Store Day they have curated their own museum and have revisited 2007’s Read and Burn 03, the third EP in a series started in
2002 the first two instalments of which had been partly compiled onto the Send album (2003) & later released on the PF456 Deluxe vinyl/
book collection (2021).
The album, now entitled Read & Burn 03+, which has not been properly released on vinyl before now, is also distinguished as the last non
historic release by the original Wire line up of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert & Robert Grey. This 2026 version brings the orig-
inal 4 tracks and adds 3 more.
Releases like this used to be the core of Record Store Day experience – deep cuts, curveballs and chances to release lesser-known mo-
ments in catalogues. Wire music defines this hidden gem collectors cut status with a timelessness and each release from whichever
period somehow still sounds like the now as the band always seemed to create in an everlasting present with one this being the last hur-
rah from the first line up and the ultimate art rock fab 4.
This release, of one of the more overlooked moments in band’s career is a timely reminder of the riches to be found in their deep cuts. In
2007 the band were already thirty years into their creative adventure and had taken full advantage of carving out their own space for a cre-
ative freedom and playful deconstruction of their own sound.
Perhaps because it is the last gasp of their classic line up, Read and Burn saw them somehow reconnect with their earlier minimalistic 1977
pop/noise and short sharp shocks of stripped guitar immediacy. This startling brevity of their earliest music somehow ran parallel with punk
despite the band’s willful disconnection from the rest of that scene. Yet despite this embrace of their earlier sound Wire, of course, somehow
still sounded futuristic whilst updating the basic chassis into the now.
For the 2026 editions there are 4 different versions of 23 Years Too Late across the different formats of the release. The vinyl version has an
alternate intro, one of several prepared for the original 2008 release, plus of course Dip Flash the piece’s progenitor.The CD & digital versions
have the original intro plus a “single” version, the 24 Years Later Edit, which at 3:17 will serve as in introduction to the release.
While some of the tracks originated as part of the 2001-2002 sessions that gave forth Send, others have a more storied history. The opening ten
minute 23 Years Too Late, with its tour narrative text and motorik rhythm that oscillates between the spoken word almost ambient sections and
guitar grind embraces the band’s love of a deceptive complexity in the simplicity. Alternating between spoken and sung sections the song man-
ages to cram all the hallmarks of classic Wire into one hypnotic adventure from ambient atmospheres to concrete guitars. Thriving on a tension
and release it also stands as one of the band’s finest achievements of any era in the view of both core fans & the band – a rare point of agreement!
The song actually started life as a highly transformed cover of the 70’s Wire single Dot Dash – performed under the name ‘Dip Flash’ (in-
cluded here as an extra track) as part of Iain Sinclair’s London Orbital, a night at the Barbican London on 25th October 2002, celebrating
London’s M25 motorway (AKA The Orbital).
With almost drum and bass rhythms and impenetrable guitar trips the next track, ’No Warning Given’ is also one of those perfect Wire mel-
odies dissected over its rhythmic shuffle. Continuing on their reconstructing of song corpses, ‘Desert Diving’ actually started life as a version
of the Chairs Missing track ‘Heartbeat’ as performed live at the Garage, London during Wire’s series of concerts there in May 2000. The
original (minimal) version of ‘Our Time’ – which rides on the perfect loping Wire groove with shimmering guitars and deadpan vocals – and the
alternate mix of ‘Desert Diving’ are included as an additional tracks alongside the previously mentioned ‘Dip Flash’.
Both a chance to revisit the past and still a portal to a future. Read & Burn 03+ is both memory and a future nostalgia and a constant
template of what can be done with rock music and is now almost a decade later than 23 years too late…
JOHN ROBB MCR 2026