Room 206 - "2 Innies & 1 Outie" Album Review!!

It's now time for our final monthly CD review of 2021 on The Sault Metal Scene, and our milestone 150th total! We have quite a notable new-ish release to satisfy both markers, as the album in question is the brand new re-release of defunct local punk band Room 206's 1994 album "2 Innies & 1 Outie"! Surviving details on the original release are minimal, but this album was put out independently on cassette tapes at the time, before fan and prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon set plans in motion to give this Room 206 tape a proper remaster & re-release on vinyl, through his new boutique label Soolebrity Records. After months of teasers, the one-sided records were officially released on Wednesday, and I absolutely pre-ordered one well in advance! "2 Innies & 1 Outie" was originally recorded locally at Satellite Sound Studios with engineer/co-producer Bob McLeod, while the remastering was done by Steve Rizun at Drive Studios in Toronto.

The two bonus covers by modern super-groups were recorded separately, but the vocals were also tracked at Drive Studios, with guitar recorded locally with Dustin Jones at Tidal Records, and the songs were mixed by Scott James at Greyskull Musik in Sweden. Room 206 are represented here by singer/guitarist Mike Yorke and drummer Al Watson (both ex-Totally Confused) alongside bassist Brad "Example" Lacell, who has played alongside Soolebrity Records head Mikey Hawdon for years in The Inner City Surfers. The bonus songs feature Mikey on vocals & guitar, Room 206 alum & Surfers bandmate Dave Bahun on lead guitar, No Use For A Name's Matt Riddle on bass, and mixer Scott James on backing vocals. Ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfeiffer features on "Good Enuff", while No Doubt's Adrian Young drums on "I'll Be Around", which also features backing vocals from Surfers frontman/Tidal Records owner Dustin Jones.

Given that the original tape run of "2 Innies & 1 Outie" is 27 years old, it's obviously out of print, and I've never seen it for sale in the wild, but the vinyl remaster retails at $40. Only 206 copies (a fitting number!) have been pressed, and limited copies were on sale at The Rad Zone, so check there or contact Mikey directly if you want to see about availability if you didn't pre-order. Yes, the album is available digitally, which has somewhat flown under the radar on social media, but you can buy it in mp3 copies from Amazon for $9.49, and you stream all 10 songs on Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music, with song names below linked from YouTube.

Featuring 10 songs running for about 27 minutes, let's begin this review with the album's opening song, "My Trip"! Complete with a live-style introduction where they seem to briefly forget the complete band name, this song is about striving for something new for a change of pace, and though Mike isn't specific, he invites you to experience it first hand with him. This a melodic skate punk song with a good upbeat energy and a nice drum showcase for Al at the end, and while there's not a lot of unique hooks compared to similar bands of the period & to come, it delivers the requisite punk blast to lead off! Next is "I'm Feelin' Fine", which seems to be about reassuring someone that everything's alright when it really isn't. A shorter and faster song, the catchy hooks and drum beats are in full force on this one, but the echo on Mike's vocals are a little overdone on the verses

Fun song while it lasts, and I can see it being a live favourite to sing along with thanks to it's relatively simple chorus, but again, it's over before you know it. The shortest song of the original tape is next, namely "Garden Of Life", whose lyrics are more introspective and optimistic, aiming to show a friend how life should be lived (this kinda feels like a companion to "My Trip"). A fast paced drum solo kicks off this distorted bass-laden song, which suffers from the scratchy instrumentation and repetitive chorus, though the aggressive, hardcore ending stretch gives it a solid exclamation point! Not my favourite song on the album, but it ends well! Fourth is "Ride My Rocketship Of Love", and despite the title's strong adult innuendos, the lyrics have nothing to do with that, instead being about looking forward to a bright future despite society trying to get you down and internalizing your issues.

The slowest song so far on this album, the combo of Mike's melodic singing and the distorted, scratchy instrumentation doesn't really gel for me compared to preceding tracks, though Brad's bass playing is technically sound, and I like the drumming again! I would have either sped this track up or stripped it down even further, as it's in a bit of a gray area for me and not firing on all cylinders in either direction. Fifth on this album is "Anyways", which alludes to standing up for oneself and being your own person, away from the shadow of a bad influence. This is more of a Foo Fightersy power pop song, if slightly grittier, and while solidly performed, I wouldn't say this works as well for Room 206 as their faster, more punk-driven earlier songs, especially with the very abrupt ending. Not a bad song all the same, Mike's guitar work and vocals work well, but I do prefer them faster and punkier than this.

"Nature Calls" is next, with the title being a metaphor for escaping a bad situation, perhaps some sort of familial oppression. While not too far removed musically from "Anyways", this song is more aggressive and has a little more of a punk edge, plus some of Brad's better bass work on offer, and even a mini guitar solo during the bridge. Nothing groundbreaking, but this relatively long song has a lot of room to maneuver and include lots of strong components, and it's one of the better songs on the back half of the original album! Next is the longest song on offer, "Pretentious", with Mike giving advice about how to live, for better or worse, and honestly, the lyrics don't sound all that pretentious to me. This song is softer and relaxed (if not quite a "ballad"), augmented with heavier choruses, more great bass from Brad, and some strong and impassioned vocals from Mike, and some more progressive timing as the song ends.

While punk diehards aren't going to prefer "Pretentious", it's arguably the best song on the album in terms of showcasing Room 206 as musicians, so don't bypass it, even if it feels slow moving at first! The original tape concluded with "Pretend To Be", where you're invited to join in on a "flight", which may or may not be aided by alcohol to create the voyage in question. A little more of a grungy song with more of a melodic groove, this makes good use of Mike's vocal range and some more very solid drumming from Al, and it ends the 1994 version of the album on a high note! Again, the punk content slowed down on side B(?), but Room 206's talent was clear, even at this early stage! As for the bonus tracks, first is the very quick "Good Enuff", which Room 206 did record a studio version of for the 1995 Barely Legal Records compilation CD "Punk: The Next Generation".

For comparison's sake, I did listen to Room 206's version before the 2021 all-star cover, and both takes are about complacency in one's life when you should really be doing more, not just being a passive observer. It's almost an unfair fight given who recorded the new version, let alone with 27 years of production upgrades, but I definitely prefer the cover musically to the original, including a beefier, more dynamic sound, and how Mikey's vocals don't sound like they were recorded through a telephone! If you like Mikey's post-Lion Ride solo efforts as a punk frontman (especially The Fairmounts), this will be right up your alley, and he and Dave pair extra well on guitar! The remaster closes with the supergroup's cover of "I'll Be Around", which was called "Sit & Drool" on their posthumous MySpace page, though I forget if that was a studio recording or not.

Lyrically a defiant number about letting one set their own course when the time is right, this is another fun skate punk song that pairs extra well with the "Good Enuff" cover, especially with it's melodic guitar line, well timed backing vocals, and very solid drumming from Adrian, and it gets in & out without overstaying its welcome! It's not fair to compare these covers from 2021 to the original indie tape, but fans of Mikey & Dave's extensive local music catalog should eat both of these covers up, and they're a great bonus!

So, what are my final thoughts on Room 206's debut album('s new remaster)? Overall, this is a strong album that 1990s and skate punk fans will definitely enjoy, and even if you're not a genre diehard, there's some surprising diversity on offer too! For a 27 year old indie cassette tape to get re-born like this is a testament to it's quality, and everyone in Room 206 at the time delivered, with Al Watson's very underrated drumming, quality low-end bass lines by Brad Example, and strong guitar riffs & melodic vocals by Mike Yorke.  The first half of the album is more or less the punk half, before they spread their wings into more power pop and alternative stylings, and while I tended to prefer songs like "My Trip" and "I'm Feelin' Fine", the musicianship on songs like "Pretentious" can't be denied. On the flip side, the short song lengths were sometimes too short, and "Ride My Rocketship of Love" didn't know what it wanted to be.

As for the production quality, I can't 100% tell you how much better Soolebrity Records and Drive Studios made "2 Innies & 1 Outie" sound, as I've never owned the original tape, and the two songs from it on their MySpace page obviously no longer work, but the vinyl definitely sounds better than a cassette would! At the same time, the limitations of the original recording methods are present, as songs can sound tinny and scratchy, especially compared to the bonus covers, which obviously have way better production quality, but again, it's not a fair comparison. Mikey, Dave, Matt, Scott, and crew paid strong tribute to Room 206 with their take on two non-album originals (fittingly both skate punk songs at that), and in lieu of a Room 206 reunion, they're a very cool bonus for fans of theirs and of Mikey's extensive catalog! You just may have to stream the songs at this rate, or buy the mp3s on Amazon, given the very limited vinyl print run.

If you have any appreciation for the Windsor Park era of local punk music, then the remaster of "2 Innies & An Outie" will be very worth your time, and kudos to Mikey for bringing this important piece of his early fandom back like this! Hopefully Soolebrity does something similar for more classic local albums, but stream the whole thing for yourself above, and I hope you guys liked this month's album review! So, what will be our first monthly CD review of 2022? In all likelihood, we'll lead off the year with the brand new self-titled album from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, which is now available to buy in mp3 format on Amazon! It can also be streamed on Amazon Music too, but neither form of availability has been promoted by the band on Facebook. Look for that album review at some point in January, and stay tuned for either a new news post or our 2021 retrospective post on the site next! Thanks everyone!