Album Review :
The Wedding - Distance EP

Artist: The Wedding
Album: Distance EP
Label: None
Release Date: November 16, 2010
Reviewed by: Cimarron Hatch
Buy The Album Here

Tracklisting:
1. The Distance Between You and I
2. Heartbreak In Melody
3. Won’t Back Down
4. Not Like I’m Doing Now
5. Remedy
6. The Same Mistake

The Fayetteville, Arkansas boys of The Wedding released their fifth studio recording, Distance EP, in November of 2010. In my opinion, it is one of the best albums released in the past year. The album is mostly rock/alternative style, with even a little bit of a southern rock influence that could be compared to Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. The Wedding has frequently been categorized as “emo rock,” but I don’t really think they fit that description. The difference is that this album has upbeat rock music with emotional lyrics, not dark and depressing material as could be expected from emo rock.

The Wedding is made up of five super talented guys, with Matt Shelton on lead vocals, Trevor Sarver on guitar, Cody Driggers on bass and vocals, Adam Thron on guitar, and Matt Jameson on drums. Since 2008, when Matt Shelton joined the band as lead singer, The Wedding has had a consistent line-up of musicians, which makes a positive difference in their writing and recording process.

Distance leads off with a haunting 1 minute and 24 second introduction song, complete with both screamo and gang vocals, titled “The Distance Between You and I.” The next song is called “Heartbreak in Melody,” and is a song about insincerity and when someone in a relationship is not who they pretend to be. Next, The Wedding brings a bit of a punk feel to Distance with the song “Won’t Back Down,” which reminded me of their song “Say Your Prayers” from the Polarity album. The song has a cool chorus complete with punk rock reminiscent “hey, heys” and lyrics that make you feel pumped up for a fight: “I won’t back / I won’t back down / Try and stop me if you can now, baby.”

The second half of the album quiets down momentarily with an acoustic intro to the song “Not Like I’m Doing Now,” before progressing into heartfelt-but-rocking worship music about not being able to live without someone in your life, most likely talking about God in this case. The lyrics are catchy and will repeat over and over in your head. “I can’t live without you around… / No, not like I’m doing now.” After “Not Like I’m Doing Now,” comes “Remedy,” a hard-hitting track about controversy in the entertainment industry and how God is the remedy. I liked the leading lyrics that say: “I heard you say it on the radio, / Where’s your soul?” The album comes to a close very nicely with a worshipful song called “The Same Mistake,” about regretting hurting someone because of making senseless mistakes. “If this love / Changes everything / Then with this love / You know that I can’t afford / To make the same mistake.”

Overall: Distance EP is only 17 minutes and 14 seconds long, which left me wanting more music from The Wedding. The music on this album is incredible, and almost unexpected from such a short EP. It is completely apparent that The Wedding put their all into creating amazing music that their fans would love and also gain them more fans. In my humble opinion, not one song on Distance falls short of greatness. The lyrics are heartfelt and well thought out, and the instrumentation is skillfully arranged and played. For that reason, I am giving this album a full 10 out of 10 possible points. I am eager to hear a full length release from The Wedding soon.