Room 206 Vinyl Re-Release Information, A New Video, And Much More!!

Before everyone opens their presents under the Christmas tree, here's a new news post on this Friday morning, and it includes a new concert video, some assorted recent updates, and leading off, new details on a major album re-release for you classic punk fans! Here's what you should know!

As you may know by now, the long-anticipated vinyl reissue of defunct local punk band Room 206's 1994 album "2 Innies & An Outie" was officially released on Wednesday! Remastered and pressed on vinyl by veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's new local boutique label Soolebrity Records, pre-orders for Saultite customers can be picked up at The Rad Zone, and surprisingly, there are limited copies for sale for $40, so there must have been less than 206 pre-orders, which is all that will be made. Unless I have missed something, there is not a digital streaming/download copy of the album (at least, not yet). I definitely pre-ordered one in the summer and I finally have the album in my possession (copy #72), making up for the fact that I've never seen a cassette copy of it in the wild. Elements of the album's contents have made their way to Facebook already, but what can I glean from it?

If you didn't see the photo teasers on the Mike's Lunch Music Facebook group, the album comes in a plastic sleeve with the information sticker in the bottom right, and inside, you get a sheet with a collage of band photos & documents on one side, and lyrics, credits, and liner notes on the other, as well as a Soolebrity Records sticker. The remaster-specific information includes the credits for the bonus covers of Room 206's "Good Enough" & "I'll Be Around", which feature Mikey himself on vocals & guitar and his Inner City Surfers bandmate Dave Bahun on lead guitar, plus No Use For A Name/Face To Face bassist Matt Riddle (no, not the wrestler), and mixer Scott James from Greyskull Records on backing vocals. Goldfinger's Darrin Pfieffer drums on the former and No Doubt's Adrian Young drums on the latter, which also features Surfers/Rising Tide frontman Dustin Jones on backing vocals.

As for the record proper, it is in a nice translucent gold vinyl, and confirming prior photos, all ten songs are on side A. There is no side B, it's completely smooth and does not have it's own label, which does strike me as odd given that "2 Innies & An Outie" was originally on a cassette tape (unless that was single-sided too?). It's great to finally have the Room 206 vinyl remaster for myself, so visit The Rad Zone A.S.A.P. (well, after the holidays) to see if they have any copies left in stock, and look for our review next week!

Next up, here's a new live video of local garage/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley during their Rockstar Bar debut back in August! For one reason or another, the video of this song (their new original "Fumbling Through") was only just posted to their YouTube channel on Monday, marking their first video there in over a year and their first from a public concert (their Rotaryfest video is on a separate personal YouTube channel). Our best look yet at The Uncanny Valley's current lineup, the video prominently shows a keyboard on stage, though I have not seen footage of them making use of that instrument yet, let alone which band member plays it.  The song proper is solidly composed with more of a southern rock bent and a deliberate pacing, so it should play well with fans, but the bright & warm stage lighting isn't optimal for viewing the band. Give their new live clip a watch below!

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

 

• Wyld Stallyns bandmates Jesse Cook & Jonas Gasperas are looking for a bass player to join their current band, and while they play all genres, "funk is a must". It is not clear whether this search is to fill a vacancy in The Stallyns (who featured Ben Garcia on bass after becoming an electric band this summer) or not, but note that they have not been seen live since August, pandemic acknowledged. If you want more details, message Jonas at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
  
• Former local rock bassist Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane is back home in Sault Ste. Marie through early January, and he has his equipment on hand if any local musicians with studio recordings want to record a music video while he's in town, as per the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last week. Nathan has extensive work in film production via his own McBully Productions imprint, most recently via the video for Ottawa folk musician Almyr Jules' song "Don't Go", so message him here or above if you want any details on possibly shooting a video with him!
• I have removed 2011-2012 Sault Michigan hard rock band Swayze Train from our inactive band links, as their last surviving online page on Reverbnation doesn't have enough surviving band info to warrant an informative inclusion (their Facebook page has long since been taken down). The bridge between fellow early 2010s local bands Electric Motor Fish and Toast, Swayze Train had a talented lineup, and hopefully Melissa, Mike, Scott, Tony, and Tyler are doing well!

That's all for today, but have a Merry Christmas, and we'll see you guys with more news and notes on the site soon, including this month's YouTube Channel Profile on Sunday if all goes well! Thanks everyone!