Once upon a time, there was a band named Wire. They were an influential British punk band that started up in the late 70s and never seemed to stick together for more than a couple of years at a time. Various solo projects and other frustrations conspired to throw the band into the dustbin at regular intervals, and while their productive periods each show Wire in the process of aggressive evolution through guitar-fueled electronica to electronica-influenced clockwork guitar riffage, it’s still the band’s early post-punk works that seem to inspire other musicians the most.

Take, for example, “Three Girl Rhumba,” one of Wire’s early singles. If you’re even a casual fan of Britpop, you probably recognize the song, though probably not because of Wire. If you’re a slightly more interested fan of Britpop, you know the reason why: Elastica’s self-titled debut album and their breakout single, “Connection.” Elastica’s association with Wire has been somewhat tumultuous; Wire’s record label filed a lawsuit claiming Elastica had shamelessly ripped off two of Wire’s songs for the chorus of “Line Up” and the riff to “Connection.” Elastica never denied the—well, you know the pun—and settled out of court in 1995. Elastica headed off the problem five years later when they preemptively credited Wire for the riff on “Only Human” (which later appeared on The Menace as simply “Human”).

Wire, for their part, never saw very much from the 1995 lawsuit, nor were they consulted beforehand. Even so, arguably they had the last laugh; Elastica collapsed in 2000 after long struggles with drug addiction, a long time out of the limelight and the sophomore slump. The many hiatuses notwithstanding, that means Wire outlived Elastica by at least a couple of years, having last parted company in 2004 and rumoured to reform yet again in the near future.