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THE WEDDING PRESENT
Groundbreaking, soul-searching, lo-fi British post-rock
Seamonsters: 30th Anniversary Edition
SONY
9/10
The Wedding Present always stood apart from UK indie, never more so than on third LP Seamonsters, which felt more like a British outpost of US post-rock with a crawling, growling, textured angst that had much in common with the likes of Slint and Pavement. The album was recorded in suitably brutal fashion by Steve Albini, who reflected the band’s sense of pummelling dislocation on what was essentially a break-up record. David Gedge’s fractured self-loathing and repressed rage led to superb tracks such as “Corduroy”, “Lovenest” and “Suck”, and the sound of the album would kickstart a chain reaction: after hearing it, Polly Harvey decided to work with Albini for Rid Of Me, which in turn influenced Nirvana’s decision to record In Utero at Pachyderm.