Performer Magazine

Emerging onto the Athens music scene in 2008, the Incredible Sandwich have already met an overwhelming surge of popularity thanks to a prominent spot at Athens’ annual summer event, AthFest, and contagious word-of-mouth hype.

Much of this stems from their shows, where the quartet has already honed a tight performance with a stunning display of musical chemistry and chops.

Their highly melodic, unhurried approach to songwriting rightfully appeals to jam band fans, but unlike most neo-jam acts that seem to just meander, the Incredible Sandwich fuses bursts of funk and jazz, played with convincing dexterity and inflection, with straightforward, organic progressions and textures.

The result is jams that actually have drive – and what’s more, they show a band clearly educated in music theory.

Much of the Incredible Sandwich’s initial appeal rests upon guitarist/singer Matt McKinney, who snakes in and out of lithe, cascading solos and suave, syncopated rhythms. True, the prog/jazz-laced jam sound Phish pioneered rears its head all over the Incredible Sandwich’s EP –but, again, the band plays with such skill it’s hard not to enjoy it. The two-part “Bluebird”’s ambling, fluid arpeggios worm their way into your head with ease, even if the song doesn’t traverse much new ground. “Duck!” – while repetitive– sports a supple whiteboy-funk melody (this is a good thing) and closing ballad “Pleasant Depression” is simplistic yet undeniably touching.

But on “It’s Gone,” the album’s centerpiece, the Sandwich offers its clearest glimpse of new musical possibilities. Taking its time to open the floodgates, the 10-plus-minute epic cycles through everything from turbulent chromatic passages, to ambient drones, to heavy, gut-pummeling breakdowns to wide open, sunlit solos.

The only real weakness on display is McKinney’s vocals: his tone (think a Southern version of Umphrey’s McGee) is earnest but somehow flat, which belies the invigorating musical textures that course underneath.
—John Barrett

Originally Published:  December 2009 Issue —Southeast Edition

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