Fast Jangle Pop Meets Fast...Everything
The Best Record of 1989 Day 48: #42 The Wedding Present, Bizarro vs. #87 Bad Religion, No Control
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at records from The Wedding Present and Bad Religion
Note: As many of you know, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I'd occasionally write some of these up.
I've started doing some quick hits of each matchup and posting them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There'll probably definitely be some typos.
Check 'em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags & hot takes welcome! Sharing and restacks are always appreciated.
KA—
The Wedding Present is another one of those bands that flitted in/out of my orbit. There were usually just outside the frame, and I never did a close listen to any of their records until now. If I’m honest, I usually mixed them up with bands like Inspiral Carpets. This is just how my brain’s wired.
So, the band rips into the first notes of “Brassneck,” and I’m all in. Jangle pop? Yes, please. The vocals? Just my style. The pace? 85 mph. Do you like your rhythm guitar fast? Because this album is all about rhythm guitar being played fast.
All good things. I’m so busy be-bopping along that it takes me about 2/3 of the track before I pay attention to the words, and hear this “I just decided I don't trust you anymore.”
(cue needle skipping off the record.)
Wait, am I listening to a break-up record?
Apparently, I am. I’m sure this is old news to at least some of you, but it wasn't for me. And it just keeps going like this. I don't know what was going on in frontman David Gedge’s life at the time, but I felt like I should give him a hug.
Grim lyrics and upbeat music make for an odd combo (and can be a rarity in the world of jangle pop), but it works here. When this came out, I was just figuring out how to navigate the turbulent seas of dating, and of course, being a teenager, everything was dramatic and overblown. I have a feeling this would’ve been my companion through a lot of those travails. Has misery ever sounded so playful?
Possible hot take: No Control is one of the best punk records ever.
Hear me out here:
The year before, the band dropped Suffer, which was unlike anything I’d heard to that point. It was fast, furious, and f’ing great. In other words, it was gonna take a ot top it. And then the band went out and did just that. It takes everything that made Suffer so good and dials it up to 11. The riffs are faster, and the mood is even more furious than before.
In 1989, the world was unstable. Greg Grffin has always had a way with words, but perhaps more than any other record in their discography, No Control’s lyrics capture the anxious mood of the day (I mean, there’s literally a track titled “Anxiety” here!).
No Control is less than half an hour long, yet it manages to stay fully in control while going 150 mph. That takes skill, and no one does it better than BR. If that’s too much time, check out the title track, “I Want to Conquer the World,” and Progress.
Also, do you not have an extra 30 minutes in your day? Like, anywhere? Oof.
When taking a quick look at about Suffer, I noted that “Bad Religion holds its own musically. The music makes one want to run red lights. The lyrics make you want to reach for a thesaurus. BR showed everyone that you didn’t have to dumb anything down to be considered punk.”
That goes double for No Control.
Ya hey!
My vote: Both of these records were revelations; they just took place 36 years apart. I am yet again in the weird spot of voting against my own interests. When I filled out my bracket, I overindexed on picking higher-seeded records. What seemed like a decent strategy at the time has me currently toiling in the bottom third of the standings. In this case, I went with The Wedding Present. I won’t do myself any favors today when I vote for BR.
Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my takes? Which one of these would you vote for? Sound off in the comments!
Check out the full bracket here.
Info on the tourney, voting, and more is here.
As always, thanks for being here.
KA—
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