The 6-song EP can be a splendiferous thing, especially when is loaded with songs by The Wedding Present. Back in 1995, this august UK band released “Mini,” a set with a loose driving theme, and now, 30 years later, we have “Maxi,” a fresh half dozen from the current lineup, led as always by David Gedge, with the contents covering the same subject from six distinct angles.
The red and black 12-inch vinyl released by Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is sold out on Bandcamp, but copies are still available in brick-and-mortar stores. A 10-inch pressing is also out now through the band’s label Scopitones, but it is going fast. Compact discs and digital downloads are also there for the purchasing.
A concise synopsis of The Wedding Present would, of course, situate them as top-tier indie pop specialists with an aptitude for guitar jangle at its most sublime and, occasionally, hyperactive. The other main characteristic is the band’s founder and constant frontman, David Gedge’s handiwork with a love song, and in fact, a whole big book of love songs.
Part of what makes this inclination for the amorous so impressive is how the songwriting has developed within the band’s indie-pop sound, which is very British and robust enough to be described as melodic rock (never have they been twee). The Wedding Present is not a band of grand stylistic detours and/or trend-hopping, although this shouldn’t suggest that the discography is predictable. Recognizable, sure, but predictable? No.
Writing about the ups and downs of romantic desire isn’t the only theme in the band’s wheelhouse. As detailed above, there’s driving, a subject that spans back before the reign of Sir Charles Berry. Like Chuck, Gedge is unsurprisingly in sweltering pursuit of something deeper than just tooling around town.
Opener “Scream, If You Want to Go Faster” spreads out to nearly seven minutes and eventually kicks it into the “convertible out on the highway” pace the title suggests, but the high gear speediness follows a gradual buildup of rock heaviness. “Grand Prix” is tidier and more straightforward, while still intense, with its bass thickness and some psych-inflected guitar. Next comes “Hot Wheels,” appropriately a burner reminiscent of the Bizarro days in its front half, and then a downshift and another well-calibrated rise in firepower.
Beginning with the sound of a car’s engine, “Two for the Road” is jangle pop classique with an appealingly tough rhythmic bedrock. This time, there is an uptick in tempo and a round of exquisite guitar wrangling. “Interceptor” slows it down and ratchets up the heavy once again as phone messages get added to the mix.
Stylistically, The Wedding Present aren’t always recognizable, but it is difficult for Gedge to stay away from the love theme, even when he’s out on the open road. Likewise, closer “Silver Shadow” is a one for letting it loose on the interstate, or the motorway as it’s called over there. Still, there are some likable tempo shifts. If a 6-song EP, “Maxi,” like “Mini” before, runs like a 5-speed engine, well-oiled and purring like a kitten.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
