SweetKenny Album Updates, New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

We're now into battle week for this month's two battles of the bands just days away from commencing, but before we dive into our previews of each, here's a new news post for your Monday morning! Today, we have some assorted recent updates, new videos from two local bands and some extra notes on both, but first, here's a new album release!

Dafter, Michigan hard rock musician Kenneth "SweetKenny" Sutton has released his 17th official solo album onto his Bandcamp page on February 5th! Entitled "White Knuckles", it is Ken's fifth straight solo release to be themed as a score for use in films or video games, as has been his focus since last summer, with "White Knuckles" intended as music for a slasher-themed work. It's a relatively short release, but if you're a fan of SweetKenny's film score phase, this should be up your alley, so pick it up at the above links for $7! In terms of when you might see a review of this album or another from SweetKenny, the earliest that one might come would be in July, due to our 6 month buffer from our "Hitman Files" review in January, as to avoid a potential bias, but a review is very possible for July! Now, if you've been missing SweetKenny's regular song output since June's "Fleabag Hotel", a new song named "Blue Jeans" was posted onto Bandcamp today, so what should you know about it?

It's a blues rocker with vocals about a woman in the title clothing, and while it has posted artwork like it's an album of the same name, I can't confirm if it'll be on his next album or not, but official pages have credited titles like "Cartoons", "Epic Music", and (most recently) "In Your Face" for future releases. In any event, look for more from this prolific E.U.P. musician as the year progresses, and check out his release solo output above!

Next up, here's the latest from local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control, so what's been going on with Michael, Dustin, and Keeghan lately? While we await the reveal of their "Scratch" music video on March 25th, the guys shared this photo on their Facebook page yesterday of the guys performing with the caption "Demoing the new record." Did they mean they were practicing songs from December's debut "Probably Not", or is a sophomore album already in the works? We'll let you know if anything's said! In the meantime, The Pixo Control are the fifth band (and third local act) to perform on local concert promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s YouTube performance series "Live At Six, Two, Oh.", with their episode uploaded last week. Within, the guys play their songs "Tall Ships" & "Scratch" from their first CD, complete with a plug for the series in between, and the footage is filmed on multiple camera angles like with prior full-band episodes

This video is well edited and captures strong performances from this fast-rising local trio, so Pixo Control fans should be right at home here, especially as this is arguably their best quality performance clip with Dustin Goodall on bass yet! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from both The Pixo Control and Live At Six, Two, Oh. (which is now in our "Other Local Metal Links" section) in due course!



Also today, here's the latest from local pop punk quartet Stereo North, who as you may remember, will compete in this year's VM Radio Battle of the Bands once again THIS WEDNESDAY at The Canadian Nightclub! Frontman Andrew Pucci ran a contest among his Facebook friends last week to give away tickets to the battle (via liking the band on Facebook and commenting on his contest post), with the winner being decided/revealed in this video courtesy of 20-sided dice. Fun way to decide the winner, and it allows entrants to see it being done fairly! For reference, when we randomly choose feature profiles on the SMS, we use www.random.org. As well, Stereo North were recorded covering A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran" by PaperClip Productions at the end of their Fishbowl Festival acoustic set at The Gore Street Cafe this past Friday, as posted online yesterday. While in an intimate unplugged style, Stereo North fans should enjoy it, and it's well recorded, so give it a listen below, and don't miss Stereo North at the battle on Wednesday!



Finally for today, here's some assorted recent notes from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or website name:

• Local glam/power pop trio Caroline Divine will guest as a backing band for local/Toronto indie rock musician Jesse Merineau during his set at THURSDAY'S Speak Easy Battle of the Bands! Jesse confirmed their involvement last monyh via his official Facebook event page for the battle. Though they're technically guests for Jesse's set (where he'll preview tracks for his upcoming debut album), this will be Caroline Divine's first public concert of the year if you count it as their own set. Can they help Jesse come out on top on Thursday at this fan-voted battle? Be there to find out!
• Local musician Peytan Andreola is looking for a bassist "to join in and jam the metal grooves", as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week. No word on if this relates to the same band that Peytan was looking for a drummer for last summer, but if you're interested in being the bass slapper for this project, messaege him above or at this link!
• We have added local musician/Gore Street Cafe co-owner Sam Decter's blog The Tinderbox to our "Other Local Metal Links" section, as a number of his articles there cover hard rock and punk artists in varying forms, including via recent Fishbowl Festival coverage and articles with acts like The Pixo Control and Telephone & Address. Sam doesn't post on The Tinderbox all that often, but he has posted a lot of interesting articles on arts and culture there over the past year, so check everything out above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our preview of night #1 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Havadder), Pixo Control Updates, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Friday afternoon, and remember not to miss any concerts this weekend, there's a lot going down! Today, we have some assorted recent notes, lots of updates from a rising young band, and first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Havadder will return to Studio 10 TOMORROW NIGHT for one night only! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show yesterday via the Facebook event page. Fresh off of a recent one-nighter at The Rockstar Bar, this will be Jugga & company's first show at Studio 10 since Canada Day, and marks a rare show at the Hudson Street "gentlemen's club" from the guys to not fall over a holiday weekend (no word on why it's a one nighter either.) Aside from the band's classic favourites (and, yes, the "dancers"), the ongoing draw for AC/DC tickets in Toronto continues this weekend, so consider that as well if you're coming out for the entertainment tomorrow! A 10:30 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ concert, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Havadder live last year!

Next up, here's the latest from the alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control's camp! First, if you happened to have seen a concert poster advertising that they were playing with local folk/indie project Great Chamberlain at LopLops Lounge this Wednesday (complete with poster), you're not alone, but all of The Pixo Control's allusions to the show have quietly been deleted for unannounced reasons. The concert is still going on (source here), and will notably be Great Chamberlain's last local show before project leader Chris West moves to Ottawa, so keep that in mind if you're a fan and want to send him off in style! We will, of course, let you know if The Pixo Control are still playing, but their posts must have been deleted for a reason. Also, Pixo Control members Michael Mikus & Steve Edwards were interviewed by Boxes of Boom's Sam Decter on his blog The Tinderbox two weeks ago (in his first interview of a heavier local band), so what should you know from this interview?

Within, Sam asks the guys about what sets them apart from local bands, what local bands they currently like, how things are going with Tidal Records, how recording sessions for "Probably Not" went, their retro influences, the journey from Michael's earlier solo music, how he handles being a band frontman, why drummer Keeghan Rosso left The Pixo Control, and their future tour plans. In terms of scoops, there's nothing dramatically new to report, but Michael confirmed that Keeghan left as he's "just not really in the right mindset to devote himself to playing music right now", but they've got to keep moving forward as life won't always be the same (Matthew Thibert debuted as their new drummer on Sunday.) Solid and informative interview that shows the guys' maturity and musical knowledge, and it'd be interesting to see Sam interview more local bands! Read the full interview at this link, and get more from the guys above!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• Local celtic/punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide will take a road trip out to Ottawa to play two shows at D'Arcy McGee's this weekend! Personal Facebook posts imply that My Son The Hurricane drummer Cooper Hannahson will be behind the kit this weekend, as he often is for the band's Southern Ontario gigs. Best of luck to the guys, and hopefully we see them back on a local stage soon! Our source is Tidal Records' concert listing page, which also notes a D.J.R.T. private event on Sunday, location not given.
• Long time Sault Michigan music instrument/lessons store Steve's Music Center quietly closed last year, as per posts on their Facebook page. A public reason for the closure of the Ashmun Street store wasn't announced, but personal Facebook postings note that owner/ex-Full Throttle guitarist Steve Pevarnic moved to Washington state at some point in the past year, so that could be related. Disappointing for fans, but best of luck to Steve with his new home, and if you need music gear in Sault Michigan, Grooves Music is seconds down the road from Steve's!
• In advance of TONIGHT'S first annual Superior Festival in Sault Michigan, SooToday's Donna Hopper interviewed Saving Abel guitarist Scott Bartlett for this article on the event, where Scott discussed why the Mississippi hard rock notables don't mind playing an smaller debuting event, the switch from Jared Weeks to Scott Austin on vocals (even though they already played with this lineup in the Soo in April), and the influence of southern rock on their music. Good article, so check it out above, and remember, if you're at The Superior Festival TONIGHT at The Savoy, you can hang out with Saving Abel post-show!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!