REVIEW: Wedding Present, Watusi, (Island)
- David Landgren
The first track announces the shape of things to come. A crisp sound, impeccably mixed, abrupt time changes, crystal clear vocals, guitars, bass and drums. The Wedding Present are back in the driver's seat, proving that there is still life to be found in Leeds, England. Their first album George Best (a reference to living legend UK soccer/football player of the same name), presented them as a band of fast, jangling guitars. This album sees them exploring simpler structures, ignoring the latest industry trends and fads - and yet, at the same time, the scope is much wider.
Unconditional fans will no doubt go out and buy this latest album sight unseen: they will not be disappointed. People who have heard of them and maybe already own one of their four other albums, may be wondering whether this album is worth having: they will be reassured. Then, there are the people who have never heard of the Weddoes, as they are affectionately called, and they will be wondering what it's all about: they will be informed.
So, for that last group: what does The Wedding Present sound like? An easy rule of thumb go by is what instruments are played. We have David Gedge who does most of the singing and plays guitar. Darren Belk, new arrival, plays bass and also does a bit of singing. Paul Dorrington plays guitar and Simon Smith plays drums. They don't need no steenking synthesisers! At time I am reminded, if not by direct musical similarities, but more by free association, of The Smiths, The Jam, The Fall and even Echo & The Bunnymen or The Cure. But don't get me wrong, we're talkin' 'bout rock'n'roll, here. In my book, I hold bands that can end a song cleanly (rather than relying on a studio fade-out) in high esteem. In this respect, the Weddoes are at the head of the class.
A cut above the rest is the track "Spangle". This is the only track with any overt use of studio trickery. The song is a ballad, with acoustic guitar and gentle percussion. Gedge's singing is exemplary, and the song introduces the use of tubular bells just as it ends. The trick is that the whole piece is recorded on top of the scratchy, crackling sound of an aging vinyl album, which at a single stroke gives the song a powerful atmosphere.
"It's a gas" is another infectious track that you find yourself humming long after the record is finished. A simple architecture - verse, verse, chorus, verse, verse, chorus - but put together with apparent effortlessness. Like the saying goes, it takes an expert to make difficult things look easy.
Sparing use of backing vocals, such as Heather Lewis (from Beat Happening) on "Click Click" and "Swimming Pools, Movie Stars" and Carrie Akre (from Hammerbox) on "Gazebo" and "It's a gas" enrich the overall feeling of the album, as does Greg Powers' trombone playing on "Big Rat". These discrete additions do not monopolize the songs they are used in, but rather complement them in a very effective way.
The opening track "So long, baby", is driven along by a grinding Fall-like bass guitar. Then, there are tracks like "Gazebo" that use acoustic guitar, just as powerful as anything that 1980s hero Johnny Marr did with the Smiths. Really, each song has "that little bit extra"; it may be more useful in a review to point out the dud tracks, but in this case, there are none. The overall feel of the album is polished, but not slick. The band have been around for a while, and no doubt they'll be still putting out albums ten years from now.
This album is as good as anything else they've done. If you are curious, this one is well worth getting to see what the Weddoes are doing at this point in their lives. As you may have no doubt surmised, I am highly impressed by this album. I give it an eight.
