Handsome Sandwich - "Deconstructed" CD Review!!

It's now time for our 169th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and continuing our healthy run of new album reviews, we're looking at local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's debut album "Deconstructed"! Independently released on May 6th through their Ugly Salad Records imprint, this album was recorded at Unsalted Audio with producer Bill Priddle & engineer Dustin Goodall between mid-2022 and January 2023, with mixing by Jordan Zadorozny of Skylark Park in Pembroke, and mastering by Toronto's Joao Carvalho. Handsome Sandwich are represented here by singer Taylor "Tea" Emlaw (ex-Big Mistake), guitarist Jesse Cook (ex-Jack Spades), guitarist Mitch Sirie (Far From Fine) on bass, and his Bear Hunters bandmate Johnny Belanger on drums, while Jesse's Wyld Stallyns bandmate Josh Norling guests on saxophone on "No Entry". Current bassist Rafael Medina Cruz is actually not credited as playing on the record, but he did design the album artwork.

Physical copies of the CD are on sale for $20 (I can't 100% confirm if The Rad Zone or other retail stores have them in stock), and you can presumably get them at shows and through contacting band members. You can also stream "Deconstructed" on their YouTube channel and through major streaming services like Spotify & Apple Music, and through both Bandcamp and iTunes, you can buy it legally on mp3 for around $15 (iTunes is slightly cheaper). With 11 songs running for about 39 minutes in length, let's begin this review with its first song, "Stick Up"! Lyrically about putting a romantic partner on the spot about their future, this is driving mid-tempo rocker with a bit of a jazzy progression. While not as fast paced and lively as some later songs, it gets the job done to lay out their hybrid genre sound with a well done guitar solo, and Taylor's distinctive Beth Hart-esque vocals help them stand out from other local bands!

The chorus can be a little repetitive, and the abrupt ending really made me assume that one more chorus lied ahead, but this is a solid enough opener! Next is the album's shortest song "All Or Nothing", which is about standing up for yourself and not compromising for others. A very wordy song despite running for under 3 minutes, it's an improvement on the opener for its fast paced power pop energy and spontaneity, nicely jumping from heavy choruses to more funk-inspired verses, and Jesse's lead guitar fits in nicely here! I'd have done more with the bridge, but this is a strong track that everyone contributes to well! Third is the album's second single "Better Off", which is basically about how Taylor is better off without an ex-boyfriend. While the verses are soft, the guitar attack gives the heaviest parts of the album yet on the intro and choruses, and Taylor has her angriest vocals on the album so far to match!

The spare bridge with the title being recited ground the song to a halt (I wouldn't have ended the song in that fashion either), but the all-too-brief guitar solo helped get things back on track in between! Fun song for fans of the Sandwich's heavier side, and Johnny's drumming is a nice compliment here! The album's lead single "Bitter" follows, with lyrics about rising above someone trying to bring you down, while swearing that you're not bitter about the past. This reminds me in ways of "Stick Up" from it's laid back verses and repetitive lyrics on the choruses, and while it's not one my favourites on the disc, the choruses do have a catchy sing-along quality. The spare verses do let us hear Mitch's bass nicely though, and the ending stretch (including a guitar solo) is a nice bonus when it felt like the song had just faded out for good. Good song, but I'd have added more to it to fill it out.

Fifth is "Conquest", another song based around relationship issues, this time trying to cut someone loose from their demanding nature. The softest song on offer yet, I don't think the reserved vocals and relaxed indie-inspired instrumentation on the verses are really to the band's benefit, though the choruses do amp up on the rock quota. Handsome Sandwich do experiment with backing vocals here (Johnny is credited for them on Bandcamp), and they work well enough in the mix. Not one of my favourite songs, but it will be a change of pace if you're up for it! The mid-point of "Deconstructed" comes with "Monkey", with the title referring to the proverbial "monkey on my back", and the lyrics imply a continuation of the relationship argument expressed on "Conquest". This is a better song though, with a nice hard-driving chorus with passioned vocals from Taylor and fuller power pop verses that flow more naturally,

While not as loose as some of their earlier cuts, "Monkey" is well composed and has a nice guitar solo outro, and everyone handles their end of the musical bargain, so this is a good sign leading into the CD's back half! Song #7 is the album's longest track, "Okay", which seems to be about how things will be alright after a failed relationship and how it's better for both parties to move on. This is the slowest and softest song yet, Taylor's rapid-fire vocals at points aside, which don't always fit in with the instrumental tracks as cleanly as I'd like. The choruses do amp up the rock, but for my tastes in music, this is a little too slow and drawn out compared to how I prefer my Sandwich, and the outro going progressively slower and more meandering isn't ideal. It's not badly composed, and the guitar work is high quality, but Taylor is best suited on high energy songs for me, and at points, it feels like they added her vocals onto the wrong song.

Eighth up is the album's third and final advance single "No Entry", which is about sealing yourself off from an ex so they can't hurt you anymore, citing plastic surgery and tattoos as examples of changes to facilitate the further separation. This has more of a 2000s garage rock vibe that is a definite change of pace from prior songs, with Johnny's drumming driving the verses, and Jesse's guitar solo having a bit of a 1970s prog vibe to it. Definitely a creative song compared to predecessors, with Josh Norling's saxophone part coming up after the first chorus and during the bridge and fitting in relatively seamlessly. I do prefer having more guitar in their songs, but this is definitely improvement conceptually from "Okay"! Next is "Shiver", which is about longing for an ex, if perhaps not an ideal partner given how the lyrics go. This is an improvement on the last two songs with a fuller band component and more of a full-on rock sound!

While not all-out heavy from start to end, I appreciate that this is a better showcase for the whole band, and Jesse's guitar shredding late is a nice touch, if buried under the vocals! The lyrics can get repetitive as the chorus goes on and on in the back half, but this uses everyone more optimally while still showing some creative variance, so it's a late album highlight! The penultimate song on "Deconstructed" is "Fine, Right?", which is basically about how one may not come out the "winner" in the breakup of a relationship, but they'll be fine/okay in the end. This is arguably one of the more "traditional" hard rock songs on offer on this CD, but the verses have a nice bouncy guitar riff, and Taylor uses her vocal range to good effect here! I do find that the chorus repitition goes a little too long, but if this shows their heavier side well without sacrificing what them to the dance, so to speak!

The final song here is "Darkside", which fittingly ends things on a more hopeful note towards a possible new relationship, in a "if you can't handle me at my worst..." sort of vantage point. Jesse's immediately laying down some guitar mastery to kick off this song, and this song comes together really well for a full band showcase with heavy riffs, an effective atmospheric outro, and a nice cohesive sound that helps end this album in a nice upward trajectory! This is my favourite song on the second half, and wouldn't have been out of place as a single!

So, what are my final thoughts on Handsome Sandwich's debut album? While inconsistent for what I like out of hard rock, the eclectic styles and proficiency across the board make this a solid debut outing that will please many fans more often than not! In their pre-pandemic days as a cover trio, they used to say that they had "no genre", and that can be exemplified with the sounds used here, with hard rock, jazz, progressive, funk, and punk all glimpsed at points on the eleven songs. Between Taylor's unique cutting vocals, Jesse's always-excellent lead guitar work, Mitch's solid bass playing, and Johnny's skilled percussion, everyone performs well and help most of the band show some different sides from their past metal studio work. Songs like "Better Off", "Monkey", and "Darkside" exemplify the best of their influences and performances, but this isn't perfect for what I go for.

Some songs could have abrupt endings, too reserved instrumentation at points, repetitive choruses, and somewhat buried bass, while I would have liked to have seen more lyrical variance beyond relationship strife, and it is a shame that Rafael isn't on bass on the final product for even a song or two. Anything else is more for my own metal/hard rock preferences, but again, for production quality and mix of sounds, fans should find a few ingredients of this Handsome Sandwich that they like, so definitely buy or stream it at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and look for our review of Jonesy Land's debut album "Zoom - Out" on the site next month! Thanks everyone!