A New Addition To Our Band Links, Molten Imp Updates, And New Videos!!

After our long write-up on Thursdsay's LSSU battle, let's dive back into Sault Ontario to look at recent updates from bands north of the border, including new concert videos, the latest from a metal solo project, and leading off, a newer acoustic band. Here's what you should know!

We have a new local classic/hard rock band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Dodge This, the new acoustic band from former Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer and former Havadder/Band Camp Rejects guitarist Jamie July! Jamie's brother Jeff also appears at some gigs playing percussion on a cajon. An extension of Jason's return to local acoustic concerts in 2024 (most notably at The Dive Gastro Pub), the Dodge This name first crossed my radar in late August when they co-headlined the ARCH Run outside of Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with Jamie launching an official Facebook page for the project in early September, though he & Jason had played shows prior to the ARCH Run without an advertised project name. As well as at The Dive, you may have seen Dodge This at The Water Tower Pub on September 7th and October 5th, as well as at McCauley's Restaurant in Goulais River.

Described on Facebook as "not looking to get rich, just doing what we love", Jamie has posted six videos of Dodge This on their Facebook page, including three from their September date at The Water Tower Pub of them covering The Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy", Collective Soul's "December", and America's "A Horse With No Name". Jeff was present on cajon for this show, and while the covers are sound (if vertically shot), the harsh blue lighting of The Water Tower Pub will impair what you see. It's good mood lighting in person, but not the best for filming videos. The other three come from their gig at McCauley's (sans Jeff), including just Jamie covering Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", and two of him and Jay both tackling Chris Cornell songs, namely Soundgarden's "Fell On Black Days" and, as embedded below, Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike". 

While these videos were also filmed vertically, the quality isn't bad, and Jason and Jamie play off of each other well in concert, with Jamie deploying some good melodic singing where needed. Jason can still unleash some impressive heavier vocals too, as heard on the Chris Cornell parts on "Hunger Strike"! If I was running McCauley's though, I'd use the TV monitor behind them to at least display the Dodge This logo for visual effect, though I don't know if they host live music that often. Stay tuned for more from Dodge This when we hear it, and check them out above & below!

Next up, here's the latest from a band we haven't covered on the SMS in way too long, namely local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp! At some point in the past year, project leader/former AlgomA guitarist Boyd Rendell took down their Facebook page, and as best as I can tell, their primary online presence is via a new Bandcamp page (their old one was taken down too). On the new Bandcamp page, Boyd describes Molten Imp as "the sound that comes from a damp basement near a steel plant" and hopes to "carve out its own niche in the industrial metal/noise scene with a folding pocket knife". Molten Imp's posted content now on Bandcamp include their digital singles collected as the "Bloom Closing"  complilation with bonus tracks in October of last year, as well as their half of the "Pyrolytic Punishment" split with Crucify The Whore. However, Molten Imp did release a new song on Bandcamp in June, so what should you know about that?

Entitled "Diesel On The Steamship I & II" (it is one 9+ minute file), this is an industrial noise instrumental. You have to have an appreciation for noise music to get into this, methinks, but it makes a good use of distorted effects and a mechanical theme across its runtime, and it's good to see that Boyd is still actively making music, if with less of an online presence! Check out more music from Molten Imp above!

Finally, here's a new video from last night's Blood Opera-headlined Steel City Nerdcon afterparty at Soo Blaster! This comes from 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, with Mike filming the action from the soundboard. The 40 seconds long clip sees the Toronto "zombie glam/dead metal" band playing their song "Brundlefly", inspired by David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly. Solid turnout (if with very blue lighting) at Soo Blaster, though at this point in the set, their full horror movie/theatrical aesthetic wasn't on display beyond their punk-influenced stage attire. Fun for what we hear, so check it out below, and hopefully more videos surface!

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