Out of the past: Wire and Paul Weller at Union Transfer

Four decades after making their names during the first wave of British punk, two acts play Union Transfer this week, each with new albums that show them refusing to kick back and behave like oldies bands.

On Friday, it's Wire. The London foursome were angular, intellectual cohorts to their raging rebel contemporaries the Sex Pistols and the Clash. And in terms of economy of style, Pink Flag, the band's masterful 1977 album that pointed the way forward to post-punk experimentalism, outdid even the Ramones, with 21 songs clocking in at 35 minutes.

After splitting up after three albums in the 1970s, the cerebral guitar band regrouped, first in the mid-1980s and then again in 1999. That third incarnation of the band has been impressively productive and creative in keeping Wire's sound fresh while retaining the compressed intensity that always gave their songs life.

The freshest example of that is the band's 14th album and first to be called Wire, which came out in April and features new songs written mostly by guitarist Colin Newman with mostly one-word titles ("Blogging," "Shifting," "Octopus," "Harpooned") that tersely work out their retro-futurist alienation without a shred of excess.

On Wednesday, it's Paul Weller. In that mid-1970s explosive punk moment, Weller fronted the Jam, an energetic trio that took inspiration from the 1960s Mod movement and made a series of brilliantly toughened-up R&B-influenced albums that turned them into superstars in the U.K.

Weller broke up the band and formed the self-consciously less-authentic Style Council in the 1980s, and he has maintained his boldface-name status in Britain while never reaching a huge U.S. audience in a solo career that now stretches back more than 22 years.

The Jam set an example that is difficult to live up to. A YouTube search through early-1980s videos of its live show serves as a reminder of what a great band it was. But there's no denying Weller's commitment to moving forward creatively and refusing to look back.

Or that he has been going through a relatively vital creative period in recent albums such as 22 Dreams (2008), Sonik Kicks (2012), and now Saturns Pattern. The nine-song album, which upon release in March hit No. 2 on the British charts, finds Weller, nicknamed the Modfather, still in strong voice and digging into psychedelia, soul, and most satisfyingly, stomping blues rock on "Long Time."

1026 Spring Garden St. Tickets: $23. Information: 215-232-2100, utphilly.com.

Paul Weller, with Hannah Cohen, plays at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Union Transfer. Tickets: $39.50.

215-854-5628

@delucadan