Pitchfork

Man, oh, man, how I'm digging these Wedding Present reissues. This one's a collection of the early singles that are now collector's items. (This disc isn't collectable, though; they've got a million of 'em.) A bit darker than the tracks on the George Best Plus disc, the songs on Tommy call to mind more mid- period Husker Du than Smiths influences. Conversely, it also has its moments of fumbling, but it's more a Fran Tarkenton kind of fumble, and I don't mean his recent conversion to TV pitchman for that shady home loan outfit. (By the way, Fran, nice hair.) But in England, football is soccer, and speaking of England, that's the home of the Wedding Present. Their furious razor- sharp guitar chords chatter away at 90 MPH and David Gedge can whine like a stuffed- up Morrissey and snarl with hollow- throated prowess. If you can't dig it, you're gonna have to put down that shovel.