A New Punk Album Release, A Local Artist's Charitable Initiative, And Much More!!

We have a new news post on this Monday night, and it is split relatively evenly between the Twin Saults, with big changes from an E.U.P. band closing things out, but let's start with some noteworthy news from Sault Ontario, including a big charitable push from one local musician, and leading off, details on a debut album from a newer local band!

While public advertising about its release has been surprisingly slight, young local punk quartet Vanity did indeed release a self-titled demo EP on or around February 9th! You would think the guys would be hyping this up more, but shares of this Facebook picture of the CDs proper confirm that they are/were on sale for $10, albeit in a limited print run of 50 copies (15 of them being autographed). I would assume you would have to contact the band/members therein if you want any extant copies, as they have yet to play a live concert to sell the EP at. "Vanity" features six songs, all previously posted separately on their YouTube channel and newly uploaded together in the video embedded below, so if you don't want or couldn't get a copy of the disc, you're not left out in the dark! Vanity have since been seen recording a song of some kind at Mission Control Studios, so they're already moving onward and upward.

I absolutely plan to review Vanity's EP, but when? Honestly, it might not be until May, as I already have Molten Imp's "Constable Sewage" pencilled in for a review this month, and our six month anti-bias buffer from our last review of The Din clears in April, so "Technically Live" is also patiently waiting. Neither will be "new" for much longer, after all! In any event, "Vanity" is coming, and it's looking like our CD reviews are booked solid for the spring, which is always a good sign! Hear the new EP below, get more details above, and look for more from Vanity soon!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Thompson, Manitoba alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith, and while we are behind on some of his recent review content (from and about him), he is making the news for a very positive reason, as he is donating all proceeds of his album sales in March 2022 to United Help Ukraine, a charity designed to do what their name says, help Ukranians being affected by the ongoing Russian invasion there. As briefly promoted in this Sault Star article by Brian Kelly, Mike outlined his purpose and goals for the initiative in this new video on his YouTube channel on Friday, as well a statement on his website. Mike has started by donating $100 himself, and he's hoping for fans and supporters to help do a small part to make a difference by buying his solo material on his website or Bandcamp this month. For what it's worth, he didn't specify if The Din's albums would also be part of the drive.

While I try to keep the SMS apolitical, and I do understand that there are some people defending what's going on in Ukraine, millions of people are still being displaced and having their lives threatened by the invasion, and any help for those innocent people is completely welcomed. Mike has always been active for causes he believes in, and hopefully he moves a lot of albums this month to help Ukranians at this awful time, even in a small way! Check out his video below, and if you can't buy an album, visit Mike's website above for more links about charities you can support!

Finally, let's head south to St. Ignace, Michigan for the latest from local metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, who have parted ways with guitarist Nathan Switzer, bassist Danny Tucker, and drummer Cale Krist. In a statement on their Facebook page on Thursday, the band revealed that the departures happened "this last month or two", and while things were mutual and amicable, the exits were linked to band disagreements, and a big factor in them was distance (Nathan & Cale live downstate). Surviving members Brandon West and Ted Olson (who are both locally based) are "slowly getting back into the groove of things" and have been working on a couple of cover songs, and also teased being included in what sounds like a radio station's March Madness variant tournament, but details have not followed on what and where. There are more imminent changes too, including to their album from December, so what is different?

Even though their full length album is less than 3 months old, Brandon and Ted have changed the previously self-titled album's name to "Knucklebutter" after the song of the same name, which was on both that album and their first EP. Also, the album's cover artwork was replaced by something way more cartoony, now prominently featuring their punk duck mascot who was not previously included in either of their prior album artworks. A few of the song titles were slightly amended too, with "ChOKe" now capitalized like that, "Time Diffuser" gaining "or Something Else" at the end like in their recent YouTube video, and "A Sold Soul" now including its slightly PG-rated acronym. Whether these changes were a factor in the above disagreements is for them to say and not me, but it does look like Brandon & Ted want to play more into humour with their presentation and branding.

Note that "Knucklebutter" now has a DistroKid page like it is an upcoming album, but as best as I can tell, the songs have not been altered beyond the titles (the renaming is already in place on Spotify and such). To be honest, I'm surprised Heavy Lies The Crown survived as long as they did despite having members living so far apart, which could help explain why their only live concerts pre-pandemic were in the Lower Peninsula, but hopefully we hear more from Nathan, Danny, and Cale soon, all are talented musicians who were definite assets to the band! We will keep you posted when more from the new look H.L.T.C. comes in, and stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!