Wedding Present
(Manifesto)
With Steve Albini turning the knobs, the first Wedding Present album in three years has drums that bang, guitars that form a wall of meaty chords, and vocals residing somewhere behind the other two. At its best, the band can combine the visceral attack that Albini captures so effectively, and marry it to buzzing pop with wry lyrics. On El Ray, David Gedge and company sound like any band who likes their quiet-to-loud dynamic shifts. Which means they sound great, but the shift alone doesn’t always make interesting music, especially when three songs in a row sound too similar in terms of riffage. Gedge’s outlook on relationships – nearly every song deals with attempts to resolve one – frequently get through the sonics. And bassist Terry de Castro’s quiet “Swingers” provides a nice contrast, but it would have been better placed at album’s midpoint, to break-up the similarities.
Standout Tracks: “I Lost the Monkey,” “Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk” MIKE SHANLEY
