Wedding Present
Singles 1995-1997
[Cooking Vinyl]
Rating: 7.6
Let's take a second to talk about the Enchirito. The Enchirito, for those
of you who only eat people food, is Taco Bell's newest snackvertising venture:
it's an enchilida, basically, but Taco Bell-style. It's filled with delicious
prison grade "beef," covered with the edible polymer these people call "cheese,"
and comes smothered with a kind of red chili which appears to just be mild Taco
Bell sauce with some chili powder mixed in. In short, it's the best thing to
enter my life in the last year, and I've been eating them by the burro-load.
Now, I have some friends who become upset at the mention of the Enchirito.
Here's why: the Enchirito is not actually new. It's old. It was removed
from T-Bell's menu a couple years back, and some people never really
recovered from the loss. When its return was announced recently, these
friends of mine were pretty excited. Gleeful, really. Until they ate
one. Then the griping started: "This is not an Enchirito. I remember
Enchiritos, and this is not one. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure
it's not an Enchirito. And I'm sure I don't like it."
I haven't been able to identify with any confidence the difference
between the Enchirito of Yore and the new, revised Enchirito. See, I
never ate the Old Enchirito. I've only ever had a New Enchirito. But
as far as I can tell, the main difference is the new version's lack of a
decorative olive placed on top. Anyway, my friends think I'm crazy for
loving the New Enchirito. Maybe I just love it because I don't know
what I'm missing, but I love it all the same.
Here's what I'm getting at: until last week, I'd never really heard
the Wedding Present. My introduction to them came in the form of
this singles collection which skips the first 10 years of their
existence. It contains one mini-album in its entirety, and the rest
of the disc is comprised exclusively of non-album tracks: stand-alone
singles, b-sides, live material and compilation stuff. This disc is
the New Enchirito, and I love it.
For most bands-- even good bands-- a collection like this is a recipe
for disaster. A band's collected odds and ends are usually uneven at
best, and it seems that later work is almost always dismissed, even by
(or especially by) a band's most ardent fans. This collection, on the
other hand, is impressively cohesive and consistently excellent. The
former is likely due to the simple fact that David Gedge doesn't mess
with his formula too much: most of these songs are pretty straightforward
mid-tempo rockers with the standard mix of distortion, hookiness and
Gedge's distinctive vocals. The remarkable thing is that this formula
is so consistently successful.
"Jet Girl" and "Sports Car" serve as the record's standouts and are
both prime examples of Gedge's lyrical sensibility: maudlin but barbed.
There are acoustic and electric versions of both songs; each electric
version is irresistible, and the acoustic versions do exactly what they
should-- strip the songs down without sounding tossed off. The remaining
18 tracks are almost as great as these, and that vast expanse of music is,
incredibly, devoid of any stinkers at all. Even the cover of the "Cheers"
theme song is great. If this is a singles collection, I can't wait to see
what an actual album sounds like.
Old school Wedding Present fans may yell that this is not an Enchirito.
I mean, what do I know? I kinda hope that's true, actually, because
it'll just mean that the earlier stuff is that much better. Until I
lay hands on it, though, I will continue to enjoy the New Enchirito.
Mmmm, gooey.
-Zach Hooker