Snakedrill

Snakedrill was an EP released by Wire in 1986. The album features the return of the band after their five-year hiatus, 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 most well-known track on this release is "Drill", which was the first song written by Wire post-hiatus. The song is an exercise in "monophonic, monorhythmic repetition"; the guitar part primarily consists of muted rhythmic scratching, while the drum beat is a semi-static four on the floor played almost entirely on hi-hat and kick drum. Live, the song was the band's springboard for improvisation, and would often mutate in beat and melody, occasionally stretching out to as long as 30 minutes. "Drill" is often cited as an influence on and early precursor to minimal techno and other minimalistic dance sub-genres.

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

Track listing

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