Tracklist:

Godflesh – 40 Versions

Lush – Mannequin

Resolution – It’s A Boy

aMiniature – A Serious Of Snakes

Kustomized – A Question Of Degree

Band Of Susans – Ahead

Bark Psychosis – Three Girl Rhumba

Ex-Lion Tamers – On Returning

Spasm – 12XU

Fudge Tunnel – Lowdown

Laika – German Shepherds

Chris Connelly – A Mutual Friend

Carl Marks – Eastern Standard

Petty Tyrants – Our Swimmer

Scanner – Eardrum Buzz

Polar Bear – Being Sucked In (Again)

Lee Ranaldo – Fragile

My Bloody Valentine – Map Ref 41°N 93°W

Transformer – Outdoor Miner

Main – Used To

Mike Watt – The 15th

Label background: WMO stands for Wire Mail Order, and (as anyone can guess) was responsible for releasing material by band Wire, as well as related projects and even a few compilations. They put out material by the likes of Dome, Desmond Simmons, P’o, Michael O’Shea and Bruce Gilbert, among others.

Notes: This 1996 tribute to legendary punk band Wire features a whole number of electronic, industrial and rock bands (as well as plenty of those that are hard to classify). Curiously enough, many bands from this compilation broke up/went on hiatus sometime after it was released, while Wire, who were relatively quiet throughout the 90s, eventually reformed and started releasing new material.

MBV track is their only post-Loveless material, while Fudge Tunnel and aMiniature broke up/ceased to exist sometime after recording their Wire covers featured here (Fudge Tunnel were also featured on an obscure AC/DC tribute during that year, while San Diego aMiniature recorded an excellent “Murk Time Cruiser” album a year before with Mark Trombino from Drive Like Jehu)

Kustomized was a short-lived project that featured Peter Prescott from Mission of Burma / Volcano Suns, as well as members of Cul De Sac and Gary Burton Quartet. They also did a cover of Wire’s “Surgeon’s Girl” on “The Day I Had Some Fun” 7″ in 1994.

“Ahead” by Band of Susans is yet another final track for a band that was active throughout years (and which also, at some point, included Page Hamilton from Helmet). Other band members included Robert Poss, Ron Spitzer and Susan Stenger/Susan Tallman (hence the band name, apparently).

Bark Psychosis their only full-length (at that time) called Hex in 1994 and much of what followed were compilations of their old material – 1994 “Independency” and 1997 “Game Over” (both on 3rd Stone label), the latter of which featured “Three Girl Rhumba”.

Ex-Lion Tamers features Jim DeRogatis – famous/infamous Chicago Sun-Times rock critic, who wrote a lot of material on alternative bands of the 90s and was much criticized for it by bands like Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins. Ex-Lion Tamers were also featured on “Dugga, Dugga, Dugga”, another Wire-related compilation, which also came out on WMO – it was not a tribute, however, but an album of interpretations of Wire’s song “Drill”.

Godflesh – 40 Versions