Ep 1 - (Get A) Grip [On Yourself]

Rounding off Season 1 with the closing track from the aptly named tenth album, ‘10’, we’re tackling JJ’s reflective ‘Never To Look Back’. We’re joined by our first international guest, plugin developer and stateside Stranglers superfan Paul Neyrinck. Our chat takes us on a journey through Paul’s history and discovering the Meninblack in Montana, an in-depth discussion of the much-debated ‘10’ and, as usual, our deep dive into the lyrics, music and production. Our cover is a slightly ‘rocked-up’ version of the original, with extra-dynamic drums and eclectic keyboards. That’s a wrap on Season 1! We’ll be taking a break now whilst we prepare our songs for Season 2. A massive thank you to everyone who’s listened, commented, voted and bought us a coffee so far. Stay tuned for some bonus content in between seasons! The truth is changed by… the votes our fans will cast. Head to https://www.restrangled.com, where you can vote on all the songs, get in touch and buy us a much-needed coffee. Don’t forget to play Stranglerdle, our Stranglers-based Wordle. Check out Paul’s excellent software and plugins over at https://neyrinck.com/ ‘Ten reasons why 10 by the Stranglers is ofTEN on my turntable’, a review by Roger Kasper in Punktuation Magazine: https://tinyurl.com/punktuation10review

This week we’re having a look at one the gentlest tracks in the catalogue, ‘The Lines’ from 2021’s ’Dark Matters’. We discuss the band’s 2021 Rat Chat video series, Jean-Jacques Burnel’s understated lyrics and Bertie’s triumph over Chris Tarrant. The brief for the cover was to import a bit of Everly Brothers style with a country shuffle rhythm and a gorgeous 2 part harmony provided by Mili of Mili & Bertie fame. ‘This one was from coffee..’ Don’t forget to head to https://www.restrangled.com where you can have your say in our audience poll, view all the song stats and buy us a coffee. Mili & Bertie - “Say it Right (Next Time)” https://open.spotify.com/track/1W4EnDE0xBs188mZuGz2f5?si=e62e4ee5cda245a3

This week we take on a goofy little ditty from 1984's Aural Sculpture. A rock 'n' roll, knees-up, brass-laden tune about a seaside puppet show? Only The Stranglers could do it… It's 'Punch & Judy'. We discuss the Italian origins of the puppets that inspired the song, debate the merits of the brass section, and ask the big question: is a giant papier-mâché ear a good concept for an album? Our cover is a bit more dynamic in the drum department, with a few extra touches to liven it up! See such soul and beauty over at our website https://www.restrangled.com, where you can vote in the audience scores poll, view the song stats and buy us a strong cup of coffee.

We’re diving into ‘Suite XVI’ this week with the high-octane rocker ‘Summat Outanowt’. This week we talk about JJ’s use of some interesting musical scales, Baz’s almost “Cornwell-ian” guitar work, and explore Dave’s excellent array of synthesized bells and whistles, including a cheeky Theremin. Our ReStrangled cover version is a fairly faithful rendition of the original version. We’ve recently had a huge overhaul to the website - all the song stats are now available to view, you can claim your old votes, view and change them too! A huge thankyou to Paul Neyrinck for his help in getting the new website set up - you should check out his work over at www.neyrinck.com Throw away your crutch and be bold! Head to https://www.restrangled.com where you can cast your votes on our audience poll, get in touch and buy us a coffee.

This week we’re taking on the big one from 1981, the curious hit single that is ‘Golden Brown’ off of ‘La Folie’. We discuss the song’s recent resurgence in popularity, explore the peculiar time signature, provide our usual breakdowns of the complex instrumentation and, of course, the all important scores! As always we’ve recorded our ReStrangled cover version - a fairly faithful cover with an original, symphonic arrangement introduction inspired by the live version from the ‘Friday the 13th’ gig at the Royal Albert Hall. We’ve recently had a huge overhaul to the website - song stats for every song in the catalogue are now live! You can claim your old votes, view and change them too! https://www.restrangled.com. A huge thank you to Paul Neyrinck for his help in getting the new website set up - you should check out his work over at https://www.neyrinck.com