ATHLETE – Wires Posted by AlMachine on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 Despite striking a blow for the inoffensive over the downright bland, Athlete appear to have an almost Marmite-like relationship with both the record buying public and media alike. You’re either one of those people who finds their world-wise forays into semi-acoustic melodrama inspirational and gratuitous or your vision is clouded by the evil snare of a million wannabe Chris Martins and hate them with a passion. The thing is though, that Athlete share more parallels with off-the-wall eccentrics like the Flaming Lips or the Beta Band, in that most of their compositions may initially seem like simplistic, timeless melodies but then before you know it the middle eight turns into a rasping effigy of drum’n’bass and suddenly disorientation never sounded sweeter. Having said that, ‘Wires’ is possibly the most accessible single Athlete have released to date, in that it sticks to the traditional verse-chorus-verse ethic, despite keyboard player Tim Wanstall’s odd foray into Telstar heaven. With the song being about singer Joel Pott’s prematurely born baby and the chorus being the most eschewing slice of heartbreaking yet ecstatic fervour since Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’, ‘Wires’ should be the moment where Athlete leave bedsit and halls of residence status once and for all. Dom Gourlay