This is amazing. Not as if finding the complete Sturgeons demo was good enough, we've now been passed a copy of the Sandwiches demo ( huge thanks to Allen Baekeland for this!). This is the best Christmas present ever! Well, except for the time Gene's dad bought him a copy of J.G. Ballard's Crash , thinking it was a cautionary tale about the dangers of speeding. Boy, did that ever backfire on him (both Gene and his dad, as it turned out). The Sandwiches were a very shortly-lived band, featuring Doug Smith on guitar and vocals, Tim Campbell on lead guitar, Kim Solar on bass and Bill Betzler on drums. What we're posting today is a selection of their songs, hand-picked by Campbell. And they're amazing. This is great, lean punk rock that sits very nicely alongside the Sturgeons as forming an important part of our city's musical history. Considering that members of this band went on play with Animal Kingdom, the Golden Calgarians, and Sacred Heart of Elvis, we're thinking that last summer's ffwd article about the early days of the Calgary scene missed something really important. Seriously, what did Kinsella go on to do? Share the stage with a mechanical bull , apparently (and, no, we're not talking about Chrétien). Also: in your face, Golden Rock ! We know this was on GR's most-wanted list for years, but since they haven't posted in a while... IN YOUR FACE!!! Actually, we're heading to Golden Rock's HQ next week to make them an offer they can't refuse. We think they'll be impressed by the offer. Okay, not impressed, what's the word we're looking for... maybe scared poopless is closer? Anyways, there is an offer to be made. And likely not refused, given the way it will be proposed. But back to the Sandwiches (we had a bit too much eggnog last night (okay, not too much eggnog - too much rum) and are having trouble focusing). Turning Allen's CD into mp3s turned out to be more difficult than we ever expected, and we ended up getting to know the waveforms of these songs better than those of any band previously featured on the CCPS. But again, it's been totally worth it. So put an extra glug of rum in your eggnog, grab this amazing collection of songs and toast the season. Cheers !
