Ha!ls - "Rock And Rolls" EP Review!!!

It's now time for our 173rd monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and with our lengthy review backlog in its later stretches, our penultimate review of 2023 is of newer local punk trio Ha!ls' debut EP "Rock And Rolls"! Released to their Bandcamp page on July 4th (though print runs on CD and cassette tape were teased earlier this month via their Instagram page), this is the first release from the Vanity First side project, who quietly & independently recorded this EP earlier this year. Hails are represented here by Slumshine's Brenton "B.G" Ellis on vocals & bass alongside guitarist Mikhal Muto (Agnosticism/The Apocalypse Afterparty) and drummer Keeghan McAllister. All album artwork, digital and physical alike, is handled by Brent, who is a noted painter & visual artist beyond music. "Rock & Rolls" is on sale on Bandcamp for $7 and can also be streamed for free there, but consider buying it to support their work!

As per an Instagram post on September 6th, this EP is also "streaming errrrrrrrvrywhere", and by "errrrrrrrvrywhere", they mean YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and... Boomplay? It's not clear if the CD and cassette copies are currently on sale or not, but when availability of them is confirmed, we'll let you know! Tape runs of Brent's recent albums have tended to go for $10 apiece. With four songs running for just under 10 minutes, let's begin with short EP review!

Ha!ls' EP kicks off with a 34 seconds long track named "The Horns", which is a galloping instrumental that calls to mind the one-off metal songs on early Sum 41 CDs moreso than the advertised skate punk. Not a problem for me, but I do wish that this was fleshed out into a longer song, as I was just getting into it when it ended! Next up is the longest song on offer, "Down For Life", which is about rising above low/non-ideal conditions and discovering freedom. Keeping on the same in-your-face trajectory but with more of a punk edge, Brent's vocals are sung with passion before clarity, so you really have to pay attention to hear what he's singing (or read the lyrics alongside). Keegan's drumming never lets up aside from the bridge, and Mikhal shows his stuff well on guitar, so skate punk fans will be right at home with this song, especially as it borders on hardcore punk for most of its runtime!

The third song on "Rock and Rolls" is "Thrashmastertenbillion" (no spaces), which seems to be about living on the edge and for the thrill/danger of (if I'm reading the lyrics correctly) skateboarding. Another blistering skate punk song, this gets more of the fast-paced intensity that worked so well on "Down For Life", but Brent's vocals remain hard to distinguish on a casual listen, and for a song that barely cracks 2 minutes, the "whoa-oh" bridge really eats up too much time. Structurally, I do prefer "Down For Life" as a composition, but both songs will entertain subgenre fans! Hails' EP ends with "Nowhere Wolf", whose lyrics seem to correlate drug addiction with turning into a werewolf (I hope I connected the right dots). The only song on offer that doesn't grab you by the throat musically from the off, it instead leads with some bouncy guitar work from Mikhal and simple rhythms before a wolf howl signals the punk onset.

From 0:55 on, we're in skate punk territory, but Mikhal does get some more flourish on his guitar lines, and Brent's singing does have more an affect put onto it than on the prior two songs, while Keeghan gets more room to show off his drumming! The track ends with background atmosphere noises, including a howling wind, but I think it killed the song's mood a bit as the song didn't really allude to the ominous themes as much as the lyrics. Still a quality closer to the EP for punk fans! So, how is Hails' debut EP? Overall, it will definitely get the job done for fans of modern skate/hardcore punk, and it's a promising first entry into original recordings! Comparisons to Vanity First's debut EP will be natural given Mikhal & Keeghan are in both groups, and while Hails benefited from better recording quality here, Brent's vocals are not as clear across the board as Andrew Beggs' were for Vanity.

Of Brent's prior bands, I'd point fans of his stint with Toronto's Maximum RNR to Ha!ls for the in-your-face punk attack and focused delivery of the instrments, and his involvement with Mikhal & Keeghan definitely gives them a good shine from his experience! That said, this is much faster and heavier than Brent's prior local band, These Magnificent Tentacles, not to mention his solo work in Slumshine. While a good EP with lots of punk action pound for pound, I'd have lengthened "The Horns", dropped the bridge on "Thrashmaster...", and had Brent's vocals handled in a clearer (even more Detroit-esque) fashion. Still, if songs like "Down For Life" are anything to go by, Hails have a bright future ahead, so buy/stream "Rock and Rolls" above, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Next month, I will finally look at Mike Haggith's newest album "All The Best In All You Do"!

Our lengthy new album review backlog is almost cleared out, and as such, I feel like I'm the last person to talk about Mike's new album, but we're doing it right to close 2023, as the review will include all ten songs plus the five bonus cuts from the Bandcamp download copies and the "Rose Edition" in the DVD case. Watch for that review by year's end, and for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Punk Band, Their Debut EP, And New Videos!!

How about two posts on this, our sixteenth anniversary? Gotta do something that isn't self-indulgent but helps move our backlog along a bit! Most of today's post is about a new local punk band with a lot of notes to touch on, plus a new performance video, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local punk band to finally add to our active band links, and they are skate punk trio Hails! Yes, they were on Instagram already but we've never treated band pages there as equal to ones used elsewhere due to its more limited, photo-centric structure that largely feels supplemental when used by bands. Hails (usually spelled in capitals as HA!LS) is basically a side project for 2/3rds of fellow local punk band Vanity First, with guitarist Mikhal Muto (also of Agnosticism) and drummer Keeghan McAllister joined by Slumshine frontman Brenton Ellis (credited as B.G. Ellis) on vocals & bass rather than Andrew Beggs. Just as a reminder, Vanity First are alive and well, they have continued playing live since Ha!ls' debut, which was at an art exhibition of Brent's at The Art Hub at Spring in March. Their only other public show was at last month's Go Skateboarding Day concert.

In terms of media, the raison d'etre for the launch of their new Bandcamp page is because Hails have already released their debut EP! News to me that they were even recording one, which the lack of a non-Instagram online presence kept hidden pretty well! Entitled "Rock and Rolls", the EP (at least, the Bandcamp copy of it) has four original songs, and was released earlier today for $7 there. Brent himself painted the album artwork, which matches with his art style. I have no idea if physical copies (presumably on cassette tape) are being/have already been made, but note that Brent's two EPs with Slumshine and his sole album with the defunct These Magnificent Tentacles all got runs on tape, and at least in the case of his newest Slumshine album "Slumlord", it has five bonus tracks on side B that are not officially streamable online. Could Ha!ls do the same?

In any event, it'll be a while before we review "Rock and Rolls" on the SMS due to our lengthy backlog of new album releases. It is currently pencilled in for November (as Handsome Sandwich, Jonesy Land, Spades GT, and Convergence all beat it to market), with Mike Haggith's new album (to be released next week) now bumped to December. At least the year's reviews are locked in, but wow, this is a bountiful year for new local metal, hard rock, and punk albums! I'll hold comment on the songs on "Rock and Rolls" pending our eventual review, but I can safely comment on the first public video of Ha!ls in action! Uploaded to Brent's YouTube channel last month, this is of the band playing the non-EP original "Such Desperate Joy" (unless it's a tape exclusive?) at their jam space. There is definitely more of an up-tempo, faster vibe that skate punk fans will enjoy, and it is distinct from Vanity First beyond the different frontman!

Of course, fans of Brent's prior ski mask-devoid work as a singer (e.g. Detroit, The Labour Of..., and Maximum RNR) will want to take notice too, but whether you like them more than Vanity First or not is a matter of preference. I say enjoy the wealth as long as Mikhal and Keeghan are pulling double duty! The video is well framed to capture everyone, but it's quite dark where Keeghan is set up. Give Hails' first video a watch below, and see more on them at the above links, including their EP!

We'll close today with a new video from the local folk punk/extreme metal solo artist who opened for Hails at their live concert debut, namely Chase Wigmore! Uploaded to his Facebook page on Saturday, this 2+ minute clip has Chase playing an electric guitar instrumental with a backing drum track, and he gets lots of space to let loose with some fun soloing! The visuals aren't so hot, looking like a laptop webcam, but the audio is crisp and clear, and it's angled to best capture his guitar work, so check it out for yourselves below, and stay tuned for more from Chase!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!