The Wedding Present: Bizarro vs. Seamonsters

Well, yr other poll was due to end on 20th Dec 2012, but hey.

well, when that poll ends, we can poll the results of that poll against these poll results.

Seamonsters Vs. Take Fountain what I consider

Dalliance is on Seamonsters so

GPWM, but dalliance+lovenest+corduroy+heather v brassneck+kennedy+take me!+no. IT MAKE HULK BRANE ACHE

I am literally going to have to go through and give this month's marks out of 10 to each track. Sticking to the proper 10 track versions of each, obv.

> dalliance+lovenest+corduroy+heather

oddly this list misses out what i consider the highlights - rotterdam and suck.

Seasmonsters with "Crawl"

I am literally going to have to go through and give this month's marks out of 10 to each track. Sticking to the proper 10 track versions of each, obv.

I'm going to do this now

Dalliance is on Seamonsters so

First thought:
So the lyric is actually "His head's been on the pillows that I bought" and definitely *not* "Headspin on the pillows..."

For reference: Seamonsters Poll

Bizarro is unclaimed polling fodder as of yet btw

Bizarro
Brassneck 8
Crushed 5
No 6
Thanks 4
Kennedy 5 (probably would have given this 10 at the time, but I'm bored of it now)
What Have I Said Now? 9
Granadaland 7
Bewitched 8
Take Me 8
Be Honest 7
TOTAL = 67

"kennedy" is the best song in the world

Seamonsters
Dalliance 8
Dare 8
Suck 9
Blonde 4
Rotterdam 8
Lovenest 5
Corduroy 7 (preferred the single version that came out the year before)
Carolyn 7
Heather 6
Octopussy 10
TOTAL = 72

Seamonsters wins

seamonsters should win this. more interesting would have been seamonsters vs. bandwagonesque. didn't we have that already?

Much as I love TF, tbh I don't quite see the rationale for comparing Seamonsters and Bandwagonesque. Care to elaborate on that suggestion?

i think those were the two most distinct british indie albums of 1991. two different sounds: dark vs. light. the rough vs. the mellow. fuzzyness vs. guitar pop. i love both of them.

there was also loveless in 1991 of course but somehow loveless to me is from a different planet. btw we had bandwagonesque vs. loveless vs. nevermind: Poll: Bandwagonesque v. Nevermind v. Loveless

I guess it has to do with context. In the US, Bandwagonesque actually attained some (albeit minor) commercial momentum, whereas the weddoes always remained relatively unheralded. My introduction to TF was due to Geffen's sizable promotional campaign on MTV & college radio, whereas WP had to be sought out among the same comparatively obscure channels as any given noisy UK guitar band of the era (of which there were A TON).

def both damn fine albums, though.

For a long time in my teen years Seamonsters was my favourite record. Dalliance + Dare + Suck, then the last four songs are pure 10/10. I adore the production of this magnificent record. It is very, very, very undervalued in the history of fucking awesome albums.

Fuck, Rotterdam is cool too. I did like Blonde once - I guess I over listened it.

CRAWL my word. Was there a thread of beautiful b-sides that could have been the best song on an album, but was left off by mistake?

I came to Bizarro a little later, after Seamonsters infatuation. Brassneck and Take Me are great. I think of the Wp's sound on this record, I preferred the more melodic stuff from George Best and Tommy.

I want to hear Tommy now.

seamonsters should win this. - it is the likely outcome, I agree.

but imo Bizarro is perhaps (by a hair) the better collection of songs (so so many great hooks), tho Seamonsters, as a cohesive whole, is simply immaculate. The sound of it is a template I wish more rock albums were cast in the mold of: genius (& strategic!) volume manipulation, cymbals turned down, snare pushed to the fore & pummeled to smithereens, a laundry list of the choicest timbres of fuzz & distortion, etc, etc. Barring the goodness brought to the table by the band themselves, it is imo (& by a considerable margin) Albini's finest hour.

Grand Prix has always been better than Bandwagonesque anyway.

Not many people bought "Bandwagonesque", but those that did all got girlfriends.

Dalliance is on Seamonsters so

― Cold Chisel dude Cold Chisel (King Boy Pato), Wednesday, 15 February 2012 07:39 (2 days ago)

dyk they are playing Seamonsters at the Annandale in a couple of months

a week before your birthday

seamonsters is one of my favourites, probably in my top 10, but not one i listen to much. just dug it out now and the two hairs on the back of the neck moments so far have been the bit where dalliance steps up a gear and the drums at the start of blonde.

Bit at the end of Octopussy as well, for me.

seamonsters is the better discrete object as a set of sounds

bizarro maybe edges it as a collection of songs; i'm never sure if i buy the optimistic turn at the end of seamonsters or not

it's interesting that if you listen to george best first you hear bizarro as inexplicably elongated jangle-pop but if you listen to seamonsters first you hear it as unstoppable chug

i'm never sure if i buy the optimistic turn at the end of seamonsters or not

No! There's an optimistic interpretation? it certainly doesn't feel like that (musically). I suppose lyrically it might do - but all I get is autumnal bleakness (those leaves turning in the wind I guess), also there's something sinister to "I couldn't move anyway" and then tha drop off into space. Immobility and oblivion. Pain and loss. I always feel distinctly mournful? anxious? after listening to Octopussy.

THAT drop off into space. Typing on phone, in Victoria Station, while having a quick listen to Octopussy.

Bizarro is so immense, so punchy, so smart and snarling and bitter. I never really got into Seamonsters, and I did want to.

Sorry to harp on abt the overplayed track but the second half of Kennedy where all the layers of guitar slide over and under each other, revealing new little mini-hooks at every turn, and then suddenly it's all over (and time to flip the record/tape over - ah, the things missing from the CD/mp3 generation): so, so perfect

What happened to the insanely fast strummy guitarist who left after "Bizarro?" I know he was in the Ukranians, but clearly that was a non-starter. Did he just retire?

Huh, you learn something new every day: I always thought Seamonsters came first, but I guess not. Anyway, according to Wikipedia, Peter Solowka is now a high school science teacher.

Pete "Take it away" Solowka left/was fired after they recorded Seamonsters but before they started promo-ing it. (wikipedia check says yes)

Bizarro opinion: I don't like the production on Seamonsters.

Bizarro would have been the choice of my teenage years, but I am <3ing Seamonsters so much right now.

Bizarro just now on my commute

Brassneck 6 Crushed 6+ No 8 Thanks 7+ Kennedy 9
What have I said now 8+ Granadaland 9 Bewitched 10 Take Me 10 Be Honest 8

I read Solowka was kept on as the band's accountant for a while.

Seamonsters

Dalliance 9 Dare 9 Suck 8+ Blonde 8 Rotterdam 8
Lovenest 8+ Corduroy 8 Carolyn 7 Heather 8 Octopussy 8

Bizarro 82+, Seamonsters 82. Bizarro by a whisker - call it a victory for joy over anger. perhaps if I'd had a worse day.

No! There's an optimistic interpretation? it certainly doesn't feel like that (musically). I suppose lyrically it might do - but all I get is autumnal bleakness (those leaves turning in the wind I guess), also there's something sinister to "I couldn't move anyway" and then tha drop off into space. Immobility and oblivion. Pain and loss. I always feel distinctly mournful? anxious? after listening to Octopussy.

I dunno-- I always took it to mean like he's feeling so relaxed and blissful that it's almost difficult to for him to imagine getting up and moving about

Bizarro opinion: I don't like the production on Seamonsters.

yeah, i never really liked it either. i liked the songs okay at the time the album came out, but over the years when i've tried revisiting it nothing really does it for me. except maybe octopussy

bizarro otoh was such a huge album for me at the time. took a break from it for fifteen years or so, but anytime i come back to it, it still sounds great. still massively love all the droney guitar stuff. and the way crush launches in so giddily yet heavily it still gets me with every listen

I dunno-- I always took it to mean like he's feeling so relaxed and blissful that it's almost difficult to for him to imagine getting up and moving about

Yes, I you're right - it has just never felt like it to me!

i can understand that. even on some of the "happier" songs such as that one gedge does this moaning thing that makes it sound like he is going through some prolonged agonizing ordeal rather than a mere love affair

just re-listened to bizarro and the answer is still seamonsters. bizarro has too much of that thing he does when you only get to hear one side of the conversation, like overhearing a 'phone call.

but i'd forgotten how much i liked the last 3 songs on there.

I flip back and forth between preferring Kennedy or Take Me, but both are pretty amazing extensions of "What Goes On." I wish both had better sound, but doubt that even the best of remasters could remedy that...

Where the Wedding Present basically responsible for popularising that DANG DANG DANG DA DANG DA DA DA DANG DANG, post-What Goes On rhythm that plagued UK indie music in general, for many years up to the early 90s?

What was really amazing was the Watusi-era band playing any of these songs live. A shame that Watusi wasn't that great a record.

i think i might be the only person in the world who thinks watusi is their best album.

I concur with Del's opinion - I was never thrilled with Seamonsters production, Gedge's voice was too buried and I still prefer the Peel session versions of those tracks.

I'll also rep for Watusi, a slept on gem of an album. A completely different feel for me from their earlier work, though.

Watusi does not suck, but doesn't quite have the songs in my opinion -- but I saw two shows that the band that recorded Watusi did (Watusi tour and Hit Parade tour) and they did the motorik thing unbelievably well, doing with rhythm what Albini had them do with volume, and man oh man the Bizarro and Seamonsters songs were incredible.

yeah, it might not have the strength of seamonster or bizarro's songwriting, i just think watusi is a bit more fun. it's kinda wedding present lite, but at this stage in my life that sounds the best to me. i'll have to see if i can find live recordings of that era you mention, sounds neat.

Yeah, this is Smith/Dorrigton/Gedge/Belk, so probably '93-'95.

It's really weird (I think) that there aren't more Kennedy covers out there. I'd think that it'd be an indie favorite, but aside from one Tokyo group, can't find a thing. Seems like such an obvious cover to include, for live purposes if nothing else.

because it is perfect?

Kerbdog covered Kennedy on a b-side, never heard it (or them)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Where the Wedding Present basically responsible for popularising that DANG DANG DANG DA DANG DA DA DA DANG DANG, post-What Goes On rhythm that plagued UK indie music in general, for many years up to the early 90s?

I cannot see how a post-What Goes On rhythm can ever be in any way considered a plague. But I can't think of any bands that even did this at the time except Unrest and Luna and neither band was from the UK. I enjoyed it when the Feelies and the Clean did it, and I enjoyed that next go-round as well. I'm fairly certain there is no better rhythm this side of James Brown.

...unless you mean those precocious twee bands who sucked the crunch out of jangle.

i can understand that. even on some of the "happier" songs such as that one gedge does this moaning thing that makes it sound like he is going through some prolonged agonizing ordeal rather than a mere love affair

what gedge manages to do with his voice on seamonsters is kind of incredible, i think

like obv he always had 'limitations' with his 'instrument' and never 'sung' as such, but he sort of takes all that as read on the records through 'bizarro', and then on seamonsters there's a lot of thought about the compositional possibilities of his failures to sing and where he can't hold notes and where his voice will crack. i dunno, dynamics for non-singing singers is interesting to me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i like the symmetry of these results!

x-p

yeh thomp, well-said, and i agree that it's interesting how that all goes down with ppl who would seem to have more challenged singing voices