Tough Age

Tough Age

Which Way Am I?

Mint

Tough Age continue to change shape on their fourth album, Which Way Am I? Drifting into unexplored territories of dreamy guitar workouts while expanding their instrumentation to include flute, synths, and organs, they hit fresh strides on this eleven-song set. Cultivating the collaborative approach of their last album, Shame, this album finds bassist / vocalist Penny Clark contributing lead vocals on three songs with music written by guitarist / vocalist Jarrett Evan Samson. Side one’s shorter run-times fight against the current with frenetic agitation, while side two’s meditative, melancholy songs welcome death’s sweet embrace. While they originated in Vancouver, Tough Age has since been based in Toronto since 2015 as a trio consisting of Samson, Clark, and drummer Jesse Locke (Simply Saucer, Chandra). Establishing themselves locally while touring across Canada, the U.S. and Japan, they have honed their approach to the point of psychic connection.  Which Way Am I? was once again recorded with producer Peter Woodford at his Montreal studio the Bottle Garden (Homeshake, TOPS, Tess Roby) and mixed by Mint veteran Jay Arner. The influence of New Zealand and Australia is still evident, yet they also introduce new colours into their musical palette, from hooky Television Personalities punk, to the placid calm of Clark singing in a tone similar to Cate Le Bon. “Maybe the biggest musical inspiration over the last few albums has been The Feelies,” Samson says. “Not necessarily in terms of songwriting or feel but in how they evolved and changed during the course...

Tough Age

Shame

Mint

In the two years since Tough Age’s sophomore album, I Get The Feeling Central, the curmudgeonly, comic book-loving band have reinvented themselves. Founding members Jarrett Samson and Penny Clark relocated to Toronto from Vancouver, channelling their love of Flying Nun indie-pop into a new three-piece line-up with drummer Jesse Locke (Century Palm, Simply Saucer). The first glimpse at this new direction was their Guess Not / Unclean 7-inch EP, now followed by their long-awaited third album, Shame. This is the band’s most collaborative effort to date—honing their econo jams on tours across North America and over the sea to Tokyo, while sharing stages with artists such as The Courtneys, HSY, and Woolworm, the trio re-emerged with a fresh set of songs that are simultaneously minimal, dynamically propulsive, and eerily experimental. They limited overdubs and tried to record live in the studio as much as possible, paring down an original set of twenty songs to a sleek eight in 32 minutes. The prominent placement of a Tough Age poster above Archie Andrews’ bed in the TV series Riverdale was a hilarious thrill for the band, but their musical tastes dig much deeper: the influence of New Zealand acts continues to loom large, but there are other less obvious inspirations: early ’80s London, ON group The Hippies, the off-kilter drumming of U.S. Maple, and the austere lyricism of The Urinals’ “punk haikus.”

Tough Age

Unclean

Mint

Since relocating to Toronto from Vancouver three years ago Tough Age has channeled their love of underground Flying Nun styled indie pop and stripped down to a 3 piece to facilitate efficient touring and writing. Their new 3 song EP, Unclean, reflects their new direction. The A side features two short and fast DIY indie poppers that sound like the best part of a Messthetics comp and are sung by bassist Penny Clarke. The B-side "Unclean" is guitarists Jarrett Samson's ode to classic kiwi pop and held together by the taut drumming of Jesse Locke.

Tough Age

I Get The Feeling Central

Mint

If Tough Age’s self-titled debut was the culmination of four radical adults, I Get the Feeling Central busts out of their comfort zone. As before, this twelve-song collection is built on the bedrock of scuzz pop—simultaneously sweet and ear-splittingly loud—but these old dogs have dug deep and taught themselves some new tricks. From the thunderous glam-stomp of “Chutes & Ladders” to the ominous surf instrumental “Landau, Luckman & Lake” to the self-dubbed “evil Donovan” psych-pop of “Castigation,” it’s a thrilling listen that zigs where one expects it to zag. I Get the Feeling Central was recorded at Little Red Sounds, the Vancouver homebase of producer Felix Fung. Following the success of releases by hometown heroes Chains of Love, Dead Ghosts, and The Tranzmitors, Fung leveled up Tough Age with a luster of supercharged sugar-rush fuzz. The album’s breadth of styles follows in the tradition of A Quick One / Sell Out-era The Who with the scorched garage moves of “It’s My Pride”-era The Guess Who. Meanwhile, the bubblegum sounds of songwriters named Tommy and jangling genius of New Zealand’s Flying Nun roster continue to hover on the horizon. As a framing device for Tough Age throughlines of introspection, self-deprecation and ultimately moving past unrealistic expectations, singer / guitarist Jarrett Samson gets his kicks like Dan Bejar or Robert Pollard by scattering songs with obscure allusions. These include the themed area of Disneyland housing the Haunted Mansion (“New Orleans Square”) and a fictional holding company from the pages of Wolverine, Uncanny...

Tough Age

Plays Cub’s Hot Dog Day

Mint

Hot dog! Just over two years old—yet older than everyone thinks—Tough Age is plain ol’ happy to announce the arrival of Plays Cub’s Hot Dog Day, their first Record Store Day release to a world in desperate need of a 7-inch covering a previously released 7-inch in full! Available only on watery-ketchup-colored vinyl, Plays Cub’s Hot Dog Day is a tribute devoted entirely to recreating the second set of six songs from the Vancouver cuddlecore pioneers, recorded fresh after Tough Age’s seventh or eighth tour. (No one stayed at home to write war memoirs or watch their new TV, but two members did move to Toronto afterward.) Plays Cub’s Hot Dog Day was recorded once again at Vancouver’s The Family Christmas, this time in their permanent home there and not dragging gear back and forth from The Orphanage space down the hall. Wholly produced by Jay Arner with assistance from Jay Arner and Jay Arner, this little red biscuit features every member of Tough Age singing, taking on such gems as “My Chinchilla” (“Satan sucks, but you’re divine”), “Nicolas Bragg” (“Sunflower, nightshade, seaweed, x-ray”) and of course a rolling rendition of Astrud Gilberto’s “Summer Samba” minus horns, to put things in perspective.

Tough Age

S/t

Mint

Tough Age is culmination-rock, the sound of four radical adults with shared decades of experience, chops and killer record collections coming together to create charismatic, idiosyncratic pop songs for the ages. Following the dissolution of Vancouver’s beloved surf-punks Korean Gut, frontman Jarrett K. (also a member of Apollo Ghosts, Role Mach and too many more bands to list) cherry-picked a stacked lineup for his next project. Penny “Agamemnon” Clark provides a jangly drone-wash of guitar and backup vocals, Lauren Smith holds down the low end with beating-heart bass-lines, and drummer Chris Martell (Sightlines, Collapsing Opposites, and last seen with K. in a Minutemen cover band) rounds out the dream team. For their stated sonic inspirations, the band is quick to whip off a laundry list of musical heroes from lo-fi godfathers Guided By Voices to the New Zealand fuzz-pop of Toy Love, The Clean and Bird Nest Roys. They also dig deep into Canadian garage 45s of the ’60s from names like The Townsmen, The Jury and The Ferraris of Canada. Heck, there might even be a dash of Tommy James and the Shondells, plus the cartoon bubblegum of The Archies, Groovie Ghoulies and Ohio Express. Yummy yummy! Tough Age tapped fellow Mint Records signee Jay Arner for the production of their debut LP, and the results are immaculate. Emerging from the gritty basement recordings of previous projects, these golden-hued tunes mix head-rush rippers, swoon-worthy slow jams and hooks for days. Offsetting the barbwire riffs of “We’re Both to Blame,”...