More New Videos, Plus An Inactive Band Note!!

Hopefully everyone survived that cold snap in the Soo area over the last few days! Hopefully this will help warm everyone up, as we have another SMS post to check out today as this month moves along at a glacial pace. We mostly have some new videos to put the spotlight on, but there is a band moved to our inactive band links within, so here's what you should know!

Here's an interesting find, namely a clip of inactive local/Toronto indie/punk band Treble Charger playing "Sick Friend Called" on the CBC variety show Rita & Friends circa 1996! This was uploaded in October by YouTube user Uncool Dispatch, who previously posted this video of Greig & Trevor being interviewed on MuchMusic in 1997. If you're too young to remember it, Rita & Friends was hosted by the late country singer Rita MacNeil from 1994-1997, and while it is odd to see her introducing Treble Charger, it does show that she wanted to spotlight a wide array of music! The video quality is very rough (was this making the tape trading rounds?), but the audio's alright, and it's neat seeing an early video like this, especially given that Greig's on lead vocals for an indie-era song.

If you can get past the visual quality, this is a prime early performance from Treble Charger that surely gave them some much needed exposure to a national TV audience! Give it a look below, and do check out Uncool Dispatch's channel for much more videos of Canadian TV appearances from 1990s rock and alternative musicians, as there's a lot to see there!

Next up, I have moved local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band's last public update (a picture on their Facebook page) went up one year ago yesterday, and while the pandemic is acknowledged, Destroilet updates had dramatically slowed down in the late 2010s, with the band playing just two public sets in the past six years, most recently at the Joni Radford memorial concert in March 2019. One of the most enduring original local punk bands of the new millennium, Destroilet launched in 2009, uniting five scene veterans into a fast & blistering old school package that fans will have seen open for the likes of Random Killing, The Rebel Spell, and The Dayglo Abortions at concerts through 2015, as well as releasing a self-titled EP in 2011, expanded into a full length CD in 2012, and participating in 2015's "Fed Up!" split alongside The Ripcordz and Jack Spades.

Jam space renovations, members' personal lives, and the pandemic haven't helped Destroilet's concert frequency since the mid-2010s, but given their sporadic usage of social media to post band photos and sell t-shirts, hopefully they're not 100% done and that we'll see the guys tear up the stage once again when things return to normal! Best of luck to Mike, John, Christian, Adam, Matt, and Brent in the interim, they've all been missed!

Also, let's belatedly cover some more of local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's recent appearances/reviews in Thomas Christ's YouTube series You Rock!, where the host reviews songs by independent musicians in a 2+ hour live stream, Studio Live Today style! Mike debuted in the series with song reviews in episodes #11, #12, and #13 late last year, but he also popped up in episode #14 at the 57:44 mark, with Thomas checking out "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost" from "Bridges", positively complimenting the song for it's professionalism, slow burn, and overall talent, even plugging Mike's interview with Pete Johns. As it turns out, former Bizotic frontman Brad Griffith (a.k.a. Gortium85) recommended Mike submit songs for Thomas to feature on air, which seems to have worked out! Embedded below is episode #15 from last month. 

In Mike's fifth straight appearance, his song reviewed was "The Best You Never Had", this time from 2020's "If Ever Comes The Day", and you can check that out 1:16:07 into the lengthy video. Thomas also liked this song for it's 1980s/modern hybrid sound and production, though you can tell that Thomas has his limits as a critic, as he didn't know who Michael Hutchence (INXS' late frontman) was when a viewer complimented Mike's vocals. Solid work all around, so give both episodes a watch, and look for local indie band Man Feelings in episode #15 as well! We'll have more from Mike soon!

Finally, here's a surprise upload of an old song by former No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette's inactive solo project! Posted to his YouTube channel last month, this is The Dann Pichette Multi-Track Recording Extravaganza's song "Swass", which has been up on their Soundclick page since 2012 or so (given that this isn't a new recording, I won't move the Extravaganza to our active links unless we hear that Dann's working on new material). As I thought last year when Dann first linked me to these songs, "Swass" reminds me of a Primus demo, albeit one that cascades into chaos, and it's a silly but well performed number for what it is! Give it a listen below!

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