SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WEDDING PRESENT – MAXI

THE WEDDING PRESENT
MAXI
HHBTM RECORDS

The Wedding Present made their debut in 1985 and were once known as ‘the least complicated band from Leeds’. I say they still are the least complicated. They continue to play excellent alternative rock. Guitarist and vocalist David Gedge has kept their flag flying over the past 40 plus years. In 2026, not only are they touring North America (playing their classic Sea Monsters album in its entirety) but they have also released a new EP, Maxi. Maxi is a sequel to their 1996 EP Mini. Maxi falls very nicely in The Wedding Present’s catalogue, with their trademark melodies, energetic playing, and very clever lyrics.

There are six songs on the Maxi and they are all to do with travel. It opens with the slowburning and moody “Scream If You Want To Go Faster” but very quickly the EP picks up with songs like “Hot Wheels” and “Interceptor” which are not only classic sounding Wedding Present, but perfect heavy alt-rockers. The EP ends with the driving “Silver Shadow” It brings the road trip/travel to its logical conclusion.

While Mini was just songs about cars, with Maxi, The Wedding Party expands their theme to include travel in general, and it works. It is a short, but powerful EP featuring six songs that are melodic and stay with you long after the EP is over. Maxi is their first new music in six years, and when you hear the music, you realize just how much they are missed. Maxi is a brilliant EP, but it was not an entire album

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