The Wedding Present - El Rey: For this second proper Wedding Present album since David Gedge reclaimed the name a few years ago the group returned to Steve Albini for recording, so you can be assured at least the drums and guitars sound brilliant, though the bass is bit low in places. Fortunately, El Rey sounds like Gedge convinced Steve to push the vocals further forward in the mix than in his previous work with the band, and ever better Gedge gets off several classic Weddoes heartbreak laments shot through with his characteristic eye for detail and ear for dialogue. While the strummier El Rey sounds like a more conscious throwback to older material, evidence abounds of the music’s California-penned nature, clearly delineating it from Gedge’s mopier Brit years. In fact, the album plays largely as commentary on the peculiar nature of California relationships. A simple glance at the cover art and perusal of the track titles should clue you in: “Santa Ana Winds”, “Model, Actress, Whatever…”, “Spider-Man on Hollywood”, and most blatantly “Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend [Santa Monica and La Brea]”. Closers “Boo Boo” and “Swingers” are a little flimsy, and the decades-out-of-date lyrical Seinfeld references in “Soup” are trying a bit too hard for the song’s own good, but pretty much everything else here is top notch. The ‘04 comeback LP Take Fountain quickly became one of my favorites, and judging from the way lines from El Rey’s tunes keep coming into my head, this one’s likely to take its place right alongside it, even if it’s overall just a notch below in terms of quality.
Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge: Def Leppard concertgoers: these are the songs during which you will be going to the bathroom this summer. Granted, the group’s been on cruise control for awhile, but this album really feels like the type of record classic rock bands release without even a hope of recapturing their glory days — you know, like any Journey album without Steve Perry. Though some criticized Def Leppard’s last original LP, 2002’s X, for its pop leanings, that album at least featured some hooks and a few memorable songs as a result. While most Def Lep fans were probably hoping for a return to the form of 1999’s Euphoria here, this just sounds like 2006’s pointless covers compilation Yeah! – only with flat-sounding production and without the hooky borrowed tunes. “Tomorrow” and “Bad Actress” are the closest things to highlights here, but in the end not much from Songs From The Sparkle Lounge really, uh, sparkles. Time for another -ia album, guys.
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