The Wedding Present | “Brassneck”

Some random IRC friend from my university days sent me a mix tape. The highlight, by far, was a little ditty by The Wedding Present (not to be confused with Nick Cave’s The Birthday Party, which, to this day, I continue doing) — a Leeds, UK alt-rock outfit with a singer who sounded like he was growling while gargling a cap full of Listerine. It was intense and poppy at the same time. And the drums and the guitars came along for the frantic and intense ride, too. I was in love.

Despite an extended sabbatical from 1997 to 2004, I stuck with the band, used them as my stand-by Saturday afternoon soundtrack. And finally after nine years of fandom, I was able to check out their live show here in Vancouver. Too bad it was a serious let-down: the band members had as much emotion as a bag of flour. And their music didn’t help — their newer material definitely lacks the edge of their old stuff. Maybe I’m being a music snob. But maybe I’m just bitter that I had to wait nine years to see them, and they let me down big time. Sigh.

Still, here’s one excellent song and video. If nothing else, here’s my present to you.

The Wedding Present – Official site | MySpace | Last.fm | Wikipedia | Amazon