Meet The (Inactive) Local Punk Bands!! Part 7

Today, we likely conclude our roll-in process of defunct and inactive punk bands from the Sault Ste. Marie area into our band links on the SMS, as it's getting far harder to find distinct surviving pages for local punk bands now, so I can't promise we'll have enough to populate their own post in the near future. That said, our seventh and presumably last of these defunct punk band "introductions" do feature some strong notable names from the scene's past, so let's take a look at our remaining additions to our links, in alphabetical order!

We'll start with defunct skate punk quintet Bankshot, who were among the most prominent local punk bands in the Sault area at the turn of the millennium! Though only active from 1998-2000, the guys accomplished quite a lot during their run, which saw them share the stage with the likes of Strung Out, Treble Charger, and (in their very first show) Our Lady Peace, releasing their only CD "Angst For The Memories" in 1999, while also being semifinalists at the YTV Achievement Awards (or YAA!) and playing live on the old CBC talk show Jonovision during their height. Bankshot's lineup included Ten Brick Limit alums Ron Pelletier & Christian Pasiak on vocals & guitar alongside rhythm guitarist Lucas Schmiedendorf (a.k.a. Dr. Sal Velinus), bassist Neil Vallee, and drummer Clint Wilson (currently of Northwest & Late Shift.) I own a hard copy of Bankshot's CD, and I enjoy their fast paced modern punk sound, which had a solid spark and clear talent from the guys, and it's a little surprising that such an accomplished band didn't last for more than 3 years!

It should be noted that their online biographies (which look written by a band member) teased a potential 10 year reunion, but I don't recall a Bankshot return in 2010, so fans are still waiting. Check out some rare photos and four songs on their MySpace page, and here's Bankshot's full "Angst For The Memories" album to stream for free!



Next to add (finally) is Bin Hawdon & The Taliband, the notorious local punk supergroup that have made occasional well recieved concert appearances since from (at least) 2003-2008! Often timing their shows with the Christmas holidays, you may best remember the guys from headlining shows at The Oddfellows Hall and at the former Foggy Notions. Despite the Middle Eastern links with the name, The Taliband didn't play that up live that I've seen, though they did generally wear irreverent costumes at their shows, which were all 100% cover-centric. Fronted by band namesake Mikey Hawdon on vocals & guitar (just like his current role with Toronto bands like The Fairmounts), their lineups tended to also feature his Lion Ride bandmate Mark Rand on bass, and while I believe there was some fluidity to their lineups, the only full online lineup that I've read also featured the aforementioned Lucas Schmiedendorf on guitar and Aaron Mooney on drums, I think. The Taliband have a ton of videos on YouTube via three different channels (here, here, and here), and therein, you can see a fun, carefree, and intense take on punk classics!

While not as refined as Mikey's other bands generally are, Bin Hawdon & The Taliband were there for fun and just a straight up punk show, and it shows nicely in their videos (despite many being very dark.) Check out more at the above links (their MySpace page has some audio recordings too), and here are the guys covering The Misfits in August 2006!

Also today is Busted, a short lived local punk band from the mid-2000s that didn't accomplish much, but they have a fairly extensive biography on their Tripod page! It just needed a lot of proofreading. Formed by then Bawating Collegiate classmates (all of whom I remember from going there at the same time), their lineup featured singer/guitarist Ben Crackel, lead guitarist Ryan Poluck, and current Asylum Country drummer T.J. Case (pictured), with a bassist not acquired at last update. According to their page, Busted played live at a Bawating talent show where they covered Blink-182, and got a positive reception despite not being very loud. I was on friendly terms with all 3 guys (I was once a classmate of Ben's at River View too), but I admit not remembering Busted at the time, which might be due to a short runtime as a band or just a lack of expansion beyond school events, which paled in prominence compared to the Dunnplugged gigs at Sir James Dunn. Note that I can't date Busted's run either, but it was at some point between 2003 & 2007. It'd be interesting to find media of Busted, and we'll let you know if anything ever turns up!

Lastly for our defunct punk band additions (that I know of) are The Hangdowns, a Sault Ontario punk quartet that fans may remember from their own local run from 2003-2006! Essentially the predecessors to local indie punk band Bondar, their lineup featured future Nebraska Arms singer/bassist Guy Thiffault alongside Gutwrench alums Jordan Cumming and Marc Muto on guitar & drums, while the band briefly enlisted Bondar's Mark Rand (later Marc's Lion Ride bandmate) after a return from hiatus. Recording a debut album in 2004 (that I'm unsure on if it ever came out), The Hangdowns had a faster and more aggressive skate punk sound than the guys' later bands tended to have, which fans got a good glimpse of at shows everywhere from The Oddfellows Hall to the old Foggy Notions, along with being one of the last bands to play at the Club Princess in January 2005.Compared to Nebraska Arms, The Hangdowns will be a more intense sounding band, with solid levels of humour and aggression throughout, and fans of the members' other bands will definitely want to give them a look for their strongly written original material!

The Hangdowns have some solid original songs on their MySpace page (I really like "Separation Anxiety"), and there's a handful of YouTube videos making the rounds as well, including this Oddfellows concert clip of their original trio lineup, courtesy of The 705 Video Magazine! Check out more from The Hangdowns above!



I hope you guys liked our "introductory" posts to defunct local punk bands, and while I'm fully aware that I'm missing plenty from back in the day, these posts were strictly to add punk bands with surviving online pages, as I wouldn't want to clutter our site links with dead, non-informative, or fake links. We'll be sure to touch on many punk bands not featured in our inactive punk roll-in posts when we start featuring archived punk videos on the site next month as we continue to get caught up, so watch for those in the coming weeks, and stay tuned for concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!