Review: Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop – Listening

I recently got a copy of Listening, the first full length from the Chicago indie pop group Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop. Yes, the band has a horribly long (but equally memorable) name, but that isn’t what this is all about. It is about the music. Guitars churn, male/female vocal harmonies abound, keyboards swell, and everyone sounds like they are having a great time performing improv sketch comedy. Listening is all over the map, but could generally be classified as quirky indie pop that has a little bit of a retro garage rock thing happening as well. The band could possibly be compared to They Might Be Giants, but I probably wouldn’t go that far.

Sure, Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop mixes rock music and comedy, but it somehow seems like a cumbersome process on Listening. Perhaps this combination translates better in a live setting, but I think the band would (most likely) have been better served by concentrating on either the humor or the rock. Additionally, this album is full of crazy lyrics that really aren’t as good or clever as I would have hoped and not as literary or encyclopedic as those of TMBG.

All that being said, I kinda like this album. They mix up all sorts of sounds and a dry witty humor and Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop just sorta feels like the underdog and I’m rooting for ‘em. Listening is (even so) a fairly entertaining and humorous album that (despite song titles like) “King Wonder Wiffle And The Commencement of Batting Practice,” “Bionic Dolphin,” and “Chattanooga Kookoo” is a pretty decent cross between comedy and indie pop. Plus the faux-disco-funk of “VIP Room” is pretty hilarious. See, I’m smiling now.

MP3 | Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop – Larlie Listening
MP3 | Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop – My Fucken Family Listening