Quick, Before It Melts.

Besides Spiritualized, yesterday was the release date for The Wedding Present's latest, El Rey. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had actually forgotten about it until yesterday when I saw it written on my calendar, seeing as how, in my opinion, The Wedding Present and their defacto leader, David Gedge, are one of modern music's most underrated and under-appreciated acts. Their angular and frenetic rock has been copied and appropriated by scores of up-and-comers who've scored big on what are essentially Wedding Present rip-offs. I'm hoping the tides may turn, and some much deserved appreciation come The Weddoes way with El Rey.

Steve Albini returned to the studio to 'record' the band (don't ever call him a producer), having last worked with The Wedding Present on 1991's Seamonsters, and with Gedge on Cinerama's (the band he fronted with his now-ex-girlfriend Sally Murrell while The Wedding Present were on an extended hiatus) Torino from 2002. Albini's trademark jagged, live off the floor sound permeates El Rey, as does the Southern California locale Gedge has found himself living in for the past little while. There's moments when the music almost feels burnt by the sun, etched by blowing sand and sea winds, and slow and smoggy as the air that hangs around LA.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in LA with the king, el rey, of indie rock, David Gedge. Can you think of a better California dream that that?