Saturday, January 11, 2020

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Half Stupid

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile at The Sault Metal Scene! This monthly feature looks at one or two randomly selected metal, hard rock, or punk acts, in order to spotlight them and their active run for current readers. Our first selection of the year is a talented young group from the late 2000s across the river, so here's what you should know on them!
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Half Stupid

Genre: Grunge/Alternative Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Zac Crook (Plastic), vocals/guitar
Matt Williams (Plastic), bass
Jordan Gendreau (Twisted Manikin), drums

Audio/Video: Half Stupid reportedly recorded one EP in the fall of 2009 at Power Slug bandmates Bob Helsten & Chris Leask's studio Claustrophobic Sound. The EP featured four songs, but it is long since out of print, and I cannot find a streaming or download copy online. YouTube channel deletions & privatizations haven't helped, let alone MySpace's heavy overhauls in the 2010s, but their posthumous Facebook page does contain 3 live videos from a Big Bear Arena concert in 2009. Here they are playing "Be My Angel"!



Info/Analysis: Launched in 2007 with their MySpace page following in the summer of 2008, Half Stupid brought a 1990s grunge sound to the E.U.P. in their relatively brief run, which saw them play a handful of regional concerts. including Malcolm High School functions and at least two multi-band festivals at The Big Bear Arena. Self-described as sounding like a "melodious racket" and creating "music with some substance", surviving details are in short supply nowadays, but Half Stupid abruptly announced their dissolution in January 2010, shortly after their EP's release. Zac & Matt would later reunite in the mid-2010s alt-rock band Plastic, while Zac has since achieved renown as a solo musician and as the owner of Crooked Music, and teasers have been made regarding posthumous studio material in 2019. Half Stupid delivered their own raw throwback sound with gusto and aggression, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer,as they had real potential!

I really enjoyed their music in their heyday (especially "The Pit & The Pendulum"), and at a time when No Arrow activity on the Canadian side of the border was waning, Half Stupid filled the grunge niche very well, and everyone seemed to compliment each other nicely! That said, Zac has shown more growth and maturity as a solo musician in the 2010s, but hopefully those teasers for new Half Stupid songs do conclude as planned. Check out what you can of Half Stupid at the above links!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This series will return to Sault Ontario for our first Canadian installment of 2020 next month, when our latest randomly selected band will be mid-2010s grunge/hardcore punk duo Bad Back! Look for that on or around February 10th, and for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

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