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THE WEDDING PRESENT It hasn’t been a bad life for David Gedge. He began the Wedding Present in Leeds, England, in 1985, and between recording and touring with that band and his pop-oriented Cinerama project (which debuted in 1998), the singer/guitarist hasn’t stopped. On El Rey, we find our hero still dashing, debonair and a bit self-deprecating. If the songs here seem rather L.A.-centric, it’s because Gedge has been living in la-la land for the past few years; the album’s title is the name of a theatre in Los Angeles. Recorded by his old chum Steve Albini (who first worked with the Wedding Present in 1990), El Rey begins with “Santa Ana Winds,” which starts slowly but, by midsong, we hear that quick, spindly strum that Gedge perfected two decades ago as lyrics like, “And that’s when I pretend I don’t have a girlfriend” pour rakishly out of his mouth. Later, “Spider-man On Hollywood” jangles its way into your heart with plenty of that guitar and more rhythmic variation than we’ve previously heard from the Wedding Present. On “Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk,” Gedge spouts the lyrics like he’s already had a few vodka martinis and the record ends, appropriately, with a song called “Swingers.” While it won’t make anyone forget 1990’s classic Bizarro, El Rey is solid throughout. [Manifesto, www.manifesto.com] —Tim Hinely
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