A New Punk Album, New Videos, And Band Link Updates!!

Before we dive into St. Patrick's Day weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday evening, including new videos, updates to our band links, and leading off, a new album release. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have a surprise new album release to note on here, as local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism quietly released a new EP named "A Letter Of Resignation" to major streaming services on February 23rd! Given that this project (led by Vanity First, Hails, and Apocalypse Afterparty alum Mikhal Muto) is only active on social media via Instagram, it could be easy to assume that the album was plugged there and nowhere else, but nope, it wasn't even mentioned there. Mikhal actually told me about the release in a Facebook message, even acknowledging that he hadn't said much about it, so now everyone knows! The five song EP can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and even Boomplay (an Africa-centered streaming service that is getting more attention from local artists in recent months). Yes, this album is on sale on iTunes for $4.95, so it is eligible for a review on the SMS!

This and next month are sewn up with reviews of the newest Heavy Lies The Crown and Convergence albums, but our May 2024 album review will be of Agnosticism for the first time, so what will I have to say about Mikhal's unplugged folk punk originals? We'll know then, but give the opening song "New Year's Revolution" a listen below, and buy/stream this and other Agnosticism albums at the above links!

Next up, here's a new video from one of Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Oz's shows at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino earlier this month! Uploaded to the band's Facebook page last week, the video features Oz covering "Somebody's Out There" by Triumph, in what has to be a rare example of a band covering a Canadian song in Sault Michigan. Strong cover filmed from a good angle to capture the whole stage, and I can easily see Oz handling Rush singles if this Triumph cover tells me anything! Give it a look below, and hopefully Oz come back to the E.U.P. soon!

Also today, let's hop back to Sault Ontario for new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations! These were filmed by attendee Christopher Bardawill (who has filmed them before) at their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Saturday. The videos were first posted to Christopher's personal Facebook page and then shared to the band's Facebook group. Interestingly, both songs that he filmed are ones where Valerie Powley is not on lead vocals, instead providing backup and playing tambourine. One is a cover of The Eagles' "Already Gone" with guitarist Tony Kajnar on vocals, but embedded below is their cover of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals. That cover is a little shorter, but I embedded it here because it's a harder rocker and he didn't film it while sitting at a table for the duration, so you get some a much closer side stage vantage point of the band in action here!

I'm no Eagles fan, but that cover and "Magic Carpet Ride" are performed well and make good use of their vocal harmonies, especially on the former! Alas, both videos were shot vertically, which really didn't help the "Already Gone" video's case, but kudos to Christopher for filming on Saturday! Give their newest live videos a watch above & below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all bands newly moved to our inactive band links due to being publically inactive for a year or more. As always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

 

• The first of the bands moved to our inactive links is local acoustic southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge, who last posted band updates or played live on March 4th, 2023 at The Water Tower Pub. Launched in 2017, this side project of Bone Yard appears to have been put on the shelf so that Greg and Alex could include Bone Yard bassist Warren Reville in their unplugged (sorry, "uncorked") gigs, now under the Bone Yard banner, which have continued in the past year. Look for upcoming acoustic Bone Yard shows at The Water Tower Pub and Gateway Casino!
• Also now in our inactive links is local/Edmonton noise punk duo No Funeral, who have not issued any public updates since releasing their self-titled album on Bandcamp on March 5th of last year. Featuring former AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent and his old Flint bandmate Connor O'Brien, No Funeral played one live date at Outspoken Brewing in October 2022, recorded an album while Connor was in town, and that was about it until the album came out. No Funeral were an entertainingly chaotic project, and hopefully they surface again if the stars align!
• Finally, I have moved local/Toronto progressive metal trio PROV3RB5 to our inactive band links. Given the studio-heavy nature of the band (especially as Bryan lives out of town), it's entirely possible that PROV3RB5 have been working behind the scenes for the past year+, but the band has not issued a social media update since guitarist Benjamin Roswell posted a playthrough video on their Facebook page in January of last year. PROV3RB5 are too talented to go away, if I may say so, and hopefully Ben, Bryan, and Phil resurface when the time is right!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!