Classics Or Duds: The Wedding Present

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They need a definitive compilation really bad

Simon H., Wednesday, 4 July 2018 14:56 (five years ago) link

if you like dalliance you will probably like seamonsters in total. an album more or less on par with loveless and bandwagonesque.

Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 4 July 2018 15:05 (five years ago) link

They need a definitive compilation really bad

True. In the meantime, there's "Ye Ye: The Best Of The RCA Years" which is a good albeit brief sampler.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 5 July 2018 00:09 (five years ago) link

There was a bunch of rerelease sets a few years ago of each album, with two extra discs of bsides and live stuff, plus a dvd of vids, TV appearancesand a interview.

I have most of them, Watusi is underrated and excellent.

Can I find Bizarro? Can I trousers.

Mark G, Friday, 6 July 2018 06:58 (five years ago) link

I was listening to Seamonsters in high school and my mom came in and listened for a bit and said: "They should let the singer stand closer to the microphone."

Lie Bot (orifex), Friday, 6 July 2018 22:45 (five years ago) link

three months pass...

umm dang I had not heard this band until yesterday but wow Seamonsters is incredible, like, this is music I have heard in my head for years but now it's outside of my head. I don't love the guy's singing but the guitars and the production CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH BANG-BANG-BANG like my friends have sometimes tried to push Sarah Records stuff on my & I'm like ok I don't need to hear more stories about your Raggedy Andy lunchpail with polite strumming but this album, sure it is indebted to the Smiths but it is so much direct. I buy Albini's dynamics always & it's perfect here, I can vaguely tell that these are songs of resentments lyrically but the music speaks much more loudly about this. anyway I am in love, I want to join this band (as it was in 1991, I don't think I need to listen any further than that, I can live inside this album alone (Bizarro is good too))

droit au butt (Euler), Saturday, 6 October 2018 19:35 (five years ago) link

Absolutely, Seamonsters is a monster of guitar distortion. I think it is the little brother of Loveless, not quite as innovative but still really out there.

Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 6 October 2018 21:27 (five years ago) link

Huh, I've never thought of it anything like that. I mean, it's loud, but it's just a louder version of the band's usual manic strumming.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 6 October 2018 21:42 (five years ago) link

Yeah, for me, Bizarro is a better and more singular experience. But I get why Gedge tried to turn more pop after those 2 albums. Did anyone listen to the Going... Going LP? I'm not sure what I think of it.

paulhw, Sunday, 7 October 2018 02:14 (five years ago) link

one year passes...

God, Seamonsters is just the best. The primacy of the lyrics is so earnest and poignant! Never fails to crush me. And idk what it is, but was this album really quiet when it was pressed or something? Whatever medium I've listened on, despite the loudness of the guitar sounds mentioned above, I've always had to max out my headphones/speakers and it feels like straining to hear something deeply personal, compounded by Gedge's mumbled vocals. In many ways it is so understated and washes along, but the cumulative effect is emotional like nothing else. I think I relate to this album in a similar way to how I hear people discussing The Meadowlands.

tangenttangent, Thursday, 28 May 2020 10:20 (three years ago) link

three months pass...

I have recently played GEORGE BEST for the first time.

re: opening track 'everyone thinks he looks daft' - can anyone explain the lyrics?

Most of the lines make sense individually but I am not sure how to string them together.

the pinefox, Tuesday, 8 September 2020 13:06 (three years ago) link

No idea, maybe the documentary can shed some light on the lyrics?
https://scopitones.co.uk/archives/7135

walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 8 September 2020 16:15 (three years ago) link

Oh why do you catch my eye, then turn away?
I thought we said all the things we had to say
Shaun said he saw you holding hands with your new friend
How does it feel to know you've just won again?
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay
I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who
Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 8 September 2020 16:28 (three years ago) link

What are you looking for? It sounds like it's based on a real event. Wasn't Shaun the drummer at the time?

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 8 September 2020 16:29 (three years ago) link

iirc every single song gedge has ever written is about failing/failed relationships, quite often due to his own jealousy

(apart from a few where things are good and the sex is hot but there are inevitably clouds on the horizon)

mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 September 2020 16:38 (three years ago) link

All About Eve being a rare exception

PaulTMA, Tuesday, 8 September 2020 17:28 (three years ago) link

I don't really understand what the song is saying.

Maybe there is another voice, a woman's, that we don't hear, and it would be clearer if we did.

This, for instance, doesn't add up to me:

Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!

the pinefox, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 15:44 (three years ago) link

How on earth did I never weigh in on this?

Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 15:56 (three years ago) link

imo the narrator is a stalker who is obsessed with his female friend (or maybe they actually had a romantic relationship, but i think not). shaun saw her holding hands, with a guy the narrator insists everyone scorns, outside the movie theater. narrator is pissed and being passive aggressive about the books he'd borrowed from her; he wants them, and her, out of his life -- well, except for one or two, and also he won't actually give up his obsession with her either

mookieproof, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 15:59 (three years ago) link

The verses are awkward/bland conversations with his ex. The choruses are jealous outbursts about her new relationship.

everything, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 15:59 (three years ago) link

I always thought it was quite amusing to hear him get shot down over keeping the books

PaulTMA, Wednesday, 9 September 2020 19:38 (three years ago) link

Thanks for these comments.

The comment by poster everything is useful to me - so the verses and choruses are distinct, not really part of the same conversation, as they don't follow from the verses.

I still don't think I understand the books verse. Does it contain the words of one speaker and not the other? And what does 'Well that's just me' mean in 'Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!' ?

I don't, on the whole, find this lyric clear at all, but I've appreciated people's responses here.

the pinefox, Thursday, 10 September 2020 10:26 (three years ago) link

It's one side of a conversation, either in person or (as I sometimes imagine) on the phone. You get to hear what he's saying, but not her so you have to fill that in. Ultimately you get enough to make a judgement, is he a twat or is his whinging justified?

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:39 (three years ago) link

i always thought the implication of "everyone thinks he looks daft" was that this isn't true, but the object of jealousy is in some way trendier or less real than honest salt of the earth narrator.

it's essentially "Gordon is a Moron" played without laughs

how do i shot moon? (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:45 (three years ago) link

I tend to read Wedding Present lyrics with a lot of self-mockery/irony which may or may not be intended, I'm not really sure sometimes, but it works for me

CP Radio Gorgeous (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 10 September 2020 13:54 (three years ago) link

Gerald's post is quite helpful clarification to me.

Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay

-- is this 'kid' meant to be the one who 'looks daft', or another person?

I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who

-- does this go with the telephone theory?

Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do

-- This seems not to go with the telephone idea - suggests that the speaker is at the place of the interlocutor, which we are saying is the ex-gf.

The choruses don't seem to follow directly from the verses, unless each time, the ex-gf says something, after each verse, which logically prompts 'don't give me that' by implying that she is not dating the other person.

the pinefox, Thursday, 10 September 2020 14:44 (three years ago) link

two years pass...

too much apple pie

mookieproof, Saturday, 25 February 2023 04:05 (one year ago) link

seven months pass...

oh that was just embarrassing, at times I say the most stupid things

lol

Colonel Poo, Saturday, 7 October 2023 04:28 (six months ago) link

relatable

mookieproof, Saturday, 7 October 2023 04:52 (six months ago) link


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