The debut album from Wrangler is a collaborative effort between Stephen Mallinder of Industrial pioneers Cabaret Voltaire, Phil Winter (Tunng, Lone Taxidermist) and analogue synth devotee Benge, who recently worked with John Foxx on the album ‘Evidence’.

From the sound of it, LA Spark was recorded very much on-the-fly in Benge’s studio; home to virtually every analogue synth known to man. This goes some way to explaining the album’s sparse, yet stirring sound. The opening Theme from Wrangler sounds like a homage to early Human League, with a dash of Vangelis soundtrack thrown in, as emaciated, winding analogue synths bellow over fragile synth drums and archaic-sounding percussion.

Lava Land reeks of John Foxx Metamatic-era synth pop, with delightfully filthy synth lines brought further to life by the use of scrunched, somewhat deranged vocals; its compulsive groove really captures a mood.

Mallinder then slips his Cabaret Voltaire mask back on for the title track, so reminiscent of the band’s preliminary adventures in slow, winding pre-industrial. This slow pace, prevalent throughout the eight tracks on offer, displays the confidence Wrangler has in allowing ideas the space and time to evolve and embed into the listeners’ psyche, the chunky drum/bass line grooves of Space Ace and the techno-influenced Harder are particularly persuasive.

Often these days you get to hear the older generation of analogue synth addicts railing against the digital futurism of software synths and mouse-driven music. Occasionally, Wrangler goes too far in the wrong direction – the closing instrumental Peace and Love is pretty dull and sometimes LA Spark sounds a bit flat and constrained by its self-limitations, but generally speaking this collection of ‘ghosts from the past’ is no disservice and remains defiantly the right-side of nostalgia and contemporary relevance.