What do you get when you mix elements from five different genres including punk, indie, emo, modern rock and hardcore? You get the Rambler Records (a division of BHT Entertainment) band, The Wedding. With a name inspired by the book of Revelation from the Bible, The Wedding consists of four guys from Arkansas, including Trevor Sarver, Kevin Kiehn, Cody Driggers, and Clint Robinson. The Wedding's self-titled debut album has caught the attention of numerous bands such as The O.C. Supertones, Bleach, and Anberlin. They have been touring with The Supertones and have opened for acts like John Rueben, Number One Gun, and Spoken.

With musical influences ranging from The O.C. Supertones, Relient K and Bleach to bands like Taking Back Sunday and Further Seems Forever, The Wedding uses their varied musical backgrounds to make the distinct sound featured on their debut album. Despite the fact that they're seriously trying to sound unique, some of their songs mix just the right elements together creating what some may call just another "rock band." On the other hand there are numerous songs that are extremely catchy, others that are lyrically deep, and all of their songs seem to of been a novel idea.

Produced by Mark Lee Townsend (Relient K, dc Talk, Jennifer Knapp), The Wedding focuses on various aspects of life such as forgiveness, healing, perseverance and most of the songs relate to at least one of the members of the band's lives. From unsuccessful love to "waking the regiment," The Wedding faces the same things today's youth face.

The Wedding, a 12-track album, opens with "Morning Air," an incredibly catchy punk/pop/rock song that truly keeps you listening to the album. "Move This City" takes the next stand as an influential song, followed by the more punk inspired and fun "Joyride." "One Eye Open" drastically caught my attention with its truthful and touching lyrics. Kevin Kiehn proves to have strong vocals in "Bleeding for Hope" and are also notable on the album is "Wake the Regiment," the albums' most powerful song. Last on the album is "Water Under the Bridge," which mixes an assortment of elements including a piano-based jazz-like intro with hard rock and screamo to create an exciting and well-placed song.

I found The Wedding to be a rather eclectic and entertaining album, although they do seem to be a little gaudy at times. At the same time, however, since they use such a mixture of genres, it's hard to compare The Wedding with other bands. I'd say if you like punk rock/hardcore/emo stuff, you should definitely give The Wedding's debut album a try. If not, give the album a try anyways. You never know when you're going to like something new!

- Review date: 4/2/05, written by Jessica Vander Loop