"Killing The Cockroach"

"S" Marks The Spot is the latest offering of Sandwich. The Philippines's answer to the "super-group" collaboration (i.e. Mr. Big, Audioslave, etc.), the band is a twist of fate condensation of talent consisting of Raimund Marasigan (Eraserheads), Diego Castillo, Myrene Academia (Imago), Mike Dizon (Teeth), and Mong Alcaraz (Chicosci). Incidentally, most of the members are also former band mates of The Aga Muhlach Experience. This album coincides with the band's ten years of existence in the ever-changing Filipino rock scene.



If you buy the album there's a bonus cd of remixes of their past hits. The album itself contains 17 songs:

1. The Procrastinator
2. Ang Pagbabalik
3. Greenpick
4. Betamax
5. Line Drawings
6. Manila
7. Partner In Crime
8. Two Lovers
9. Text In the City
10. Her Favorite Band
11. Selos
12. Youth and Vitality
13. Rambol
14. Primera
15. Fluxxe
16. Candelaria
17. Public Offender

Just launched last February 12, the first single "The Procrastinator" created a huge buzz with its catchy guitar riffs, witty lyrics, a sound reminiscent of "Brit-rock" , and more importantly, a music video directed by none other than Mr. Quark Henares (if you don't know Quark ... you live in a cave.)

In totality the video is so simple yet ingeniously thought of (and edited). Against a white background, the band performs with extra intermingling clips of people throwing frisbees, skateboarding, or making graffiti. There's also the Tarantino-esque "cutaway" shots of the performance. Making it more entertaining, is the titles of "rock moves" with simple directions on how to do it.




Starting with the "Babe Ruth" wherein Marasigan handles the microphone like a baseball bat. Theres also the "Death March," "The Rooster," "Nail In Your Coffin," "The Archer," "Punch Drunk Love" and my favorite "Killing The Cockroach" - with a jump like that, that's one dead roach. There are several more moves one can follow to one's enjoyment.

The Sandwich & Quark Henares experiment is indeed a visual entertainment.

As for the album, aside from "The Procrastinator," my fave tunes are "Betamax," "Text in The City," "Ang Pagbabalik" and "Her Favorite Band." "The Procrastinator" is actually the "different" song from this album since most songs tend to be more whimsical and light (but don't get me wrong, it still rocks) and definitely not Brit-sounding.

If it's worth the money? Yes, it's worth it. So don't try downloading it on Limewire, cheapskate!