Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Punch

On this Wednesday morning, let's tackle this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Our monthly feature on a defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, and/or punk band takes us to a very familiar outfit from 2013 & 2014 that may not have lasted long, but left an impact and songs that, in one case, can still be heard in concert today! As usual, this month's band was randomly selected last month. Now, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile!
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Punch

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: 

Curtis McKenzie (Project 421, Eclipse), vocals
Daniel Horton (Project 421, Eclipse), guitar
Steven Flint (Mourning Wood), bass
Ben Boudreau (The Suicide Kings, Limelight), drums
  
Audio/Video: Punch wrote & performed a handful of original songs during their brief run, including "By The Hand", "Road Rash" (which is embedded below), and their own self-titled song, while also adopting the then-defunct Haggith's original "Metal Cage" as their own, given that Curtis & Daniel co-wrote it for & played it with that band. Though affiliated with PaperClip Productions, Punch never released any studio material, but Haggith took on Punch's originals as their own after their 2014 reunion, recording a studio version of "Road Rash" in 2015 for their final EP "XIV" with Steven on guest bass. Also, Curt & Daniel's current band Eclipse have adopted Punch's self-titled song under the new title "Rebel From Above".



Info/Analysis: A supergroup union of two members each from prominent local hard rock bands The Suicide Kings and Haggith, Punch debuted in November 2013 at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub, where they fittingly replaced The Suicide Kings. After a third place finish, Punch opened for Diemonds at The Algonquin Pub later that month, before playing their last public concert at the former Roosevelt Hotel in February 2014 to help kick off The Rosie's short lived Heavy Thursday series, ultimately disbanding following the reunion of Haggith that May. I was lucky enough to see two of Punch's 3 concerts, and they showed the same chemistry and talent that members showed before, during, and after in their best known bands, with Curt & Daniel's front end as powerful as ever, and Steven & Ben keeping the rhythm and beat nicely! It'd be nice to see Punch back in the future, but don't miss Eclipse & Project 421 for similar work!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, we'll enter the fall with a double profile due to our first randomly selected band not having a lot of surviving material, so who are we looking at? To round out another 2-1-3-1-2-1 cycle between the Twin Saults, we'll first look at early 2010s Sault Michigan acoustic hard rock band All The Dirty Words In One, while we'll begin a new rotation with a look at inactive Welland/Sault Ontario solo project The Last Warrior of Rock, fronted by ex-Late & Loud singer/guitarist Jonathan Tiberi! Look for these on or around September 10th, and for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

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