Meme Tune | UK | CD | 2016

Wrangler – White Glue UK CD [2016]

1. Alpha Omega
2. Stupid
3. Clockwork
4. Dirty
5. Stop
6. Real Life
7. Days
8. Superset
9. Colliding

It seems like yesterday when I finally bought the debut Wrangler CD and now it’s time for the follow up. Fans of Cabaret Voltaire and analog synthesis would do well to queue up for this next blast of dirty electronics due down the pike on September 23rd. The first album fit vocalist Stephen Mallinder [ex-Cabaret Voltaire] like a tight leather glove and then there was that interval track on the Foxx-covering “He’s A Liquid” EP. That tided us over for a fashion, but now the next phase is preparing to launch. The first single has hit the web in advance of a September 9th release date. It’s called “Stupid” and let’s all listen together.

Hmmm. Melody like a vintage Vince Clarke loop with slow-mo whipcrack rhythms and Mallinder riding the beat like a gaucho. I like his higher register singing; almost falsetto here. It’s all about the funk on this number. The effects applied to Mal’s voice are less destructive than on “L.A. Spark” so the net result is more musical and much less abstract than the first album in intent. The squelchfunk synth stabs on the outro are really filthy. I wish there was club in town I could dance to this in! Just as well. I’m too old to be hip. But I’m adding this to my ever-lengthening want list and come the birthday in a few weeks, this could be one to quickly enter the Record Cell when I act on the planned birthday shopping spree, which I have not done for a few years. Preorders here, but a word of warning: the LP loses the track “Superset.”

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