Wrangler is something of a super group, a meeting point for analogue and digital. Its members are Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, Tunng’s Phil Winter and Benge, who has recently been working with John Foxx as ‘the Maths’. The four make an extremely creative hub of ideas, which were harnessed at Benge’s Shoreditch studio, and bring together a number of satisfying influences and innovations. The ‘Theme from Wrangler’ sets out their blueprint, with sounds that are etched into late 1970s post-punk but which come alive in these hands, sounding like a transmission from a distant planet that gradually gains authority to take over the airwaves. The spectre of Gary Numan can be clearly felt on ‘Lava Land’, while the sharper lines of ‘Space Ace’ and the creeping unease of ‘Harder’ also prove effective. ‘Peace And Love’ may be the destination, the beatless final track an atmospheric epilogue, but this is a record where conviction and paranoia mix freely, leading to some uncomfortable yet rhythmically stimulating moments. In essence, then, a record that harnesses its creators’ pasts and points them firmly at the future, with very intriguing results.
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
