It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, and for the first time this year, we're looking at a band from Sault Michigan or the Eastern Upper Peninsula! This is a very prominent young group who were doing things few contemporary local bands were doing during their two year run, so here's what you should know on the randomly selected band for this month!
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Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Genre: Punk
Lineup: (Members not in their last lineup are in italics)
Brett Siesel, vocals/guitar
Calvin Swedene (The Undecideds), bass/vocals
Isaac Brindley (The Undecideds), drums
Henry Boucher, vocals
Audio/Video: The Sole Aggressors carved out a strong original repertoire in their run, with at least seventeen original songs being played by the time of their dissolution. You can hear multiple takes of these songs via the full concert sets filmed for their YouTube channel, by far the best and most comprehensive source to see and hear them in action, though only their first upload there features their original four-piece lineup. Covers were more common in early sets, where the guys tackled the likes of Black Flag, The Misfits, and The Ramones. Here's one of the better quality videos from their channel, of the Aggressors rocking Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley at a Serious Business-promoted concert in August of last year!
Info/Analysis: A very rare example of an honest-to-goodness punk band from Sault Michigan, The Sole Aggressors were comprised of then-Sault Area High School students, and publically debuted in August 2023 at Bird's Eye Outfitters, before they managed to win the fan-voted Lake Superior State University battle of the bands the following month! They did not defend their title last year, with Calvin & Isaac instead playing in the new indie rock band The Undecideds. Initially debuting as a quartet, singer Henry Boucher missed their battle set and was confirmed to have left the band by the following spring. From mid-2024 until mid-2025, The Sole Aggressors became fan favourite sights at shows from E.U.P. promoters Serious Business, while also hopping the border to Sault Ontario for a handful of 2025 dates, notably opening for Hails at an all-local show at The Distraction in January.
With members planning to move out of the area for college, The Sole Aggressors broke up after a farewell house party concert in August, though they called it an "indefinite hiatus", and promised that they have an "album coming soon". Time will tell how accurate that proves to be, but they carved a strong niche in their two active years together! Punk is not common at all from live gigging bands in the Eastern U.P., let alone played so proficiently and with strong attitude and musicianship (again, seventeen originals!), and it was a welcome breath of fresh air to see a cross-border set or two from them on our side of the border! Hopefully they do indeed reunite in some fashion when able, but don't bypass their YouTube concert videos!
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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! We're back in Sault Ontario for this series next month via another project recently moved to our inactive links, as our next randomly selected band is local hard rock solo project Stone Smyth! Look for that on or around November 10th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
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