Molten Imp Updates, New Videos, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for two missed concerts in our weekend previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck played at Reggie's Place on Friday and then a special community meet & greet in Goulais River last night. The band never announced either show on their Facebook page, I was only alerted to them via belated mentions on drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page, and according to him, original Soundcheck drummer Steven Flint returned to fill in for bassist Paul Belair for at least Friday. Other than Steven's return, the Friday show sounds standard for Soundcheck, but yesterday's Goulais River gig was an outdoor event put on by Algoma Tree Services at their Havilland Shores Drive homebase, with Soundcheck and classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers bookending a charity barbecue for the local Kiwanis Club's childrens' initiatives.

A bonfire and kids' face painting was also on offer for the Algoma Tree Services event, their fourth annual of this type (if you're curious, last year's installment had The Growlers again alongside Spyder's Web). I profusely apologize for missing both shows, I'd have covered them had I gotten any sort of advance notice on Soundcheck's end, while the Algoma Tree Services meet & greet is new to us in an SMS context and I'll try and keep better tabs on it for next year just in case! Hopefully both shows were a blast for bands and fans alike, and at least the weather held out!

Today's post otherwise features some new live videos, but we'll start with the latest from industrial metal solo act Molten Imp, so what have they been up to in the last two months? Well, on July 25th, Boyd brought the project back to Bandcamp after a two month hiatus (no word on if the intended Soundcloud spotlight was successful) and kicked off the relaunch there by releasing a compilation album called "s/t" (not capitalized), featuring the public songs from their first two virtual 7'' singles "Double Dose (Me)" & "Constable Sewage", plus the prior "Winter XX-XXI" songs and "Millions of Dollars", which did not get the same treatment originally. The two short "Beat" tracks and the "Eat Everything" remix are not on the public track listing, no word on if they'll be included as buyer exclusives like on the original two singles. You can buy "s/t" for $7 on Bandcamp, or stream at least the seven public tracks for free there.

Original albums take precedence for the SMS for reviews, so good thing Molten Imp have a new virtual 7'' single to take note of! On Wednesday, they released the unwieldly named "Frustfressenkummerspeck", a compound word made up of two German words for excessive eating (specifically out of frustration and sorrow respectively). The single as the public sees it has two songs, but it does appear that it will have bonus content for buyers only again, as the description alludes to a "Track 4" that features lyrical contributions by former Winkstinger frontman & Metal Morpheus host Josh Amendola. An earlier Facebook post also alluded to "two new Marquis" songs separate from "my half ass tunes", so make of that what you will. The single was mixed and mastered by prolific local punk musician Mark Rand, and is on sale for $6. As I'm reviewing the new Northwest EP this month, a Molten Imp review is very possible for next month!

Lastly, Molten Imp will reportedly play their first ever concert on Friday, October 21st, Boyd's first since 2019 with the now-inactive AlgomA, and while it will be a Dryer Fire-promoted event, further details are not out yet. We'll keep you posted, but it sounds like Molten Imp are in a good place getting more and more active locally, and if you like electronic noise rock, you should find something to like from Molten Imp's songs so far above!

We'll close today with some new videos from new local rock quartet Westridge, who don't cross our hard rock threshold for full SMS coverage from what I've seen so far, but that doesn't mean they don't have the occasional cover! On Tuesday, August 2nd, they played at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion as part of their Summer Concert Series, and finally posted three videos from their set on Friday, though all run for just a minute each. These include Westridge playing The Guess Who's "American Woman" (albeit just the instrumental bridge), The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", and as embedded below, Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion". Heaviest band covered, and also the least hazy for visual quality! Solid musical performances on these videos, if not songs that will 100% show off the vocals from what was clipped out of the full songs, so definitely give these a look above and below!

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