Wire

Wire's third stunner in a row, 154 mixes spiky new wave rhythms, frenzied punk energy and cold post-punk rigor with splashes of English pop melody ("The 15th" contains echoes of 1960s Kinks and Pink Floyd records while still feeling like what American bands like Talking Heads and Pylon were doing during the late 1970s). Ahead of their time, songs such as "Map Ref" and "Blessed State" sound exactly like what the indie kids are doing today, yet old Wire tunes remain more creative, cutting and, well, modern. On the brink of crossover success, they broke up after this one (they reformed years later).