Phil Wilson was last heard of working for HM Revenue & Customs in an article by Dave Eggers on his former band The June Brides, whose 2005-compilation Every Conversation: The Story of the June Brides and Phil Wilson reminded those who heard it that there was more to 80's indie than just Postcard and The Smiths.

The June Brides' compilation was followed shortly after by Still Unravished, a tribute album that featured such admirers as Jeffrey Lewis and Manic Street Preachers. Despite the fact they only released one full-length album (1985's There are Eight Million Stories), there's a devoted following and for many they are one of those names like The BMX Bandits, The Field Mice & The Jasmine Minks; beloved to this day.

Wilson vanished into full-time employment after retiring from music in 1987, following a failed solo career on Creation; but has now decamped to the West Country to start again. Wilson is approaching songwriting again after a hiatus - but at present is focusing on songwriting itself and cover versions. This can be quite a healthy approach - even Paul Weller made a half-decent record (22 Dreams) after a record of cover versions (...we'll not talk of the actual cover versions album though!).

The initial fruits of his labour comes in the form of the Industrial Strength e.p., a double-7" set of cover versions of Faust, Kraftwerk, S/T, and Throbbing Gristle. Wilson approaches the material in a manner not far from The June Brides, though both country and folk can be detected. The version of 'Neon Lights' stripped of the shimmering synths and devoid of electronics may sound absurd, but in this form it's clear what great songwriters' Kraftwerk were. The version here has a Velvets-like feel and could be seen as doing to electronic music what Silicon Teens did to rock and roll.

I'm not completely convinced of the Throbbing Gristle cover, possibly as I'm too attached to the original, and can't say I'm familiar with S/T. Wilson's interpretation of 'It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl' from Faust So Far is something else; on first listen I thought it sounded like Damo-era Can, The Beta Band or a less E-inflected Happy Mondays .

Industrial Strength will be followed by two companion e.p.'s later this year - New Wave and Pop!, which will see further cover versions of acts like Belle and Sebastian, The Cure, Felt, and The Scars. Here's hoping some bold soul collects all three of these e.p.'s on an album in the future - I think it would be an LP of cover versions to rival last year's 12 Crass Songs by Jeffrey Lewis...