WRANGLER - A Situation

The future is movement, evolution, research: that's the aim of a project as ambitious as the one behind the supergroup Wrangler, namely Ben Edwards (Beng, The Maths), Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) and Phil Winter (Tuung), who were also behind the not entirely successful synth-pop experiment by John Grant under the name Creep Show.

With “A Situation” the trio continues its quest for a modern music built out of old electronic artifacts, but despite the musicians' undeniable class and the pleasant deja-vu effect, the new album, in spite of the praise once again lavished on it by a too-devoted British press, doesn't quite deliver on all its promises.

The visionary lyrics and a brutal harmonic anarchy lend the record a dark fascination, the electronic grooves are relentless (“Anthropocene”) as well as cleverly vibrant and intriguing (“Anarchy Of Sound”), while the more classic acid-house-meets-Kraftwerk moves of “Mess” make an impression, and the delightful naivety of “Knowledge Deficit” deceives and seduces in equal measure.

It's the overall picture, unfortunately, that fails to convince: the Kraftwerk-esque obsessiveness that once again takes center stage on "Rhizomatic" and the darker, trance-dance-tinged title track renew some welcome visceral, as well as physical, sensations, but they also highlight the complete interchangeability of the tracks on "A Situation", leaving the listener torn between praise (“Machines Designed – To Eat You Up-“) and bafflement (“How To Start A Revolution”).

The appeal of that old-school Cabaret Voltaire-style minimal synth sound remains intact, as further confirmed by Mallinder's excellent solo project “Um Dada“, but the third Wrangler album works better on a conceptual level than a compositional one. Our esteem for Mallinder and co. remains firm - musicians who are always adept at crafting thoroughly respectable electro-pop albums - but we're still waiting for a more convincing and innovative effort.

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03/06/2020