Snakedrill

1986 EP by Wire

Snakedrill

EP by

Wire

Released

November 1986^[1]

Recorded

Summer 1986^[1]

Studio

The Strong Room, London^[1]

Genre

Post-punk
experimental rock
industrial rock

Length

15:53

Label

Mute

Producer

Daniel Miller
Gareth Jones

Wire chronology

Document and Eyewitness
(1981)

Snakedrill
(1986)

Ahead
(1987)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Robert Christgau	B+^[3]

Snakedrill is an EP by English rock band Wire, released in November 1986 by Mute Records. It was the first release after the band's five-year hiatus (1980–1985), and foreshadows their extensive use of electronic instrumentation on following albums, particularly on "A Serious of Snakes", which contains multiple layered synth and keyboard parts.

The entire EP is now included in the form of bonus tracks on The Ideal Copy (1987).

Content

"A Serious of Snakes" and "Advantage in Height" are slightly mainstream, avant-pop tracks, while the droning "Drill", which is based around a single chord, is described by Paul Lester in the book Lowdown: The Story of Wire as "far removed from the luscious musicality" of earlier songs like "Outdoor Miner" and "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W". Instead, "the delight," he wrote, "lay in the sonic layers and textures rather than any melodic twists and turns." The almost a cappella "Up to the Sun," sung as a duet by Graham Lewis and Colin Newman, is likened to a Gregorian chant by Lester.^[2]^[1] The track is described by AllMusic as a "pseudo-mystical incantation" and was allegedly written by Lewis in order to "cure" Newman, who had been suffering from hepatitis.^[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Wire

"'A Serious of Snakes...'" – 4:53
"Drill" – 5:05
"Advantage in Height" – 3:05
"Up to the Sun" – 2:50

Personnel

Adapted from the EP liner notes, except where noted.^[4]

Wire

Technical personnel

Daniel Miller – producer, mixing^[1]^[5]
Gareth Jones – producer, engineer,^[5]^[6] mixing^[5]^[6]
David Buckland – cover photography

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lester, Paul (2009). Lowdown: The Story of Wire. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120410. Retrieved 6 January 2023 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson Neate. "Snakedrill". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
^ Robert Christgau. "Wire". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
^ Snakedrill (Media notes). Wire. Mute Records. 1986.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c 1985–1990: The A List (Media notes). Wire. Mute Records. 1993.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ ^a ^b "Music Production and Mixing: Discography 1986". garethjones.com. Retrieved 24 January 2023.