The Sound, The Steel by The Wedding
Posted by Alex on August 22nd, 2008
The Wedding have released a new record, with an interesting change of sound. Stepping away from their teenage poppish sound to a more mature sound reminiscent of The Almost. Consisting of five songs and an extra acoustic version of opening track Receive.
Receive comes at you full force, with its bouncy chorus of ‘It’s like a fire coming down. We’ve got it. We’ve got it now’. It’s an instantly catchy track and you’ll be singing it for weeks. The only cheesy aspect of this song is singer Matt Shelton’s Bert McCracken style ‘C-c-clap your hands’. Otherwise, this is the instantly catchy, standout track of the record.
Renew follows on perfectly, with its changing time structures and great vocal parts. This is a track that will grow on you after a couple of listens. The last minute will blow you away, with a chorus of ‘come back, come back, whoa’ sung over spiralling guitars and drums that fit perfectly.
Reveal starts with the most annoying piano melody in the history of the planet. If you can get over that, this song will grow on you to become a great song, albeit very poppy. Matt Shelton really shows how much he can sound like Aaron Gillespie in the chorus.
Reveal continues on where the first two tracks left off, with Bert McCracken-style screams of ‘ha ha’ marring the start. This is probably the most radio friendly track of the album, and it feels exactly like Receive. Some great guitar work near the end will keep you interested.
The last proper track of the album is Redeem. It’s very different to the others, being soft and laid back. But it’s no less a part of the album than any other track, and closes it off perfectly (if you don’t include the bonus track). Listen to this track a couple of times and you’ll be hooked. It starts off softly, and picks up near the end, but it’s never over the top. Soft string parts and gentle pianos set the mood of this song perfectly.
An acoustic version of Receive is included as a bonus track. Despite being a fast, energetic track originally, it translates well to an acoustic song. In fact, I almost prefer this version to the original, with its clever acoustic guitar and percussion work. The song climaxes with the rallying chorus of ‘we are, we are, the prisoners set free’. Then, with the rattle of chains, the song is over.
I’d like to see more bands releasing EPs like this one. Clocking in at 24 minutes, it contains just the right variance of songs to keep the listener interested and entertained, without ever getting tedious or including crap to make up the time. This EP is one of those records you could put on and enjoy from the first second to the end. The sound of a steam train running has been put in between each track. This is a subjective matter - it may annoy some people, but I like it. It makes the record flow better.
This EP is available for £3.16 on iTunes. This is great value for six tracks. In fact, it’s less than the cost of a meal in McDonalds. Or a coffee in some fancy places. You spend money on those things, and they’re gone a few minutes later. If you buy this record, you’ll be enjoying it for years to come. It really is one of those records you can come back to again and again and again. And as for comparisons with The Almost? Yes, they sound a little bit like The Almost. But they’ve got enough of their own sound to truly shine through on this record. And who cares when the music is this good?
In short, buy this EP! You can listen to all five main tracks from the EP at the band’s PureVolume page. So you’ve got no excuse not to check it out!
