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Non La

Like Before

Mint

Non La is the musical project of DJ On, a Taiwanese-Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist who uses relentless pop hooks, earworm melodies, and Weezer-esque guitar solos to explore queer storytelling. Sometimes soft, sometimes loud, but always emotionally honest, Non La’s music is bold, clear, and dynamic. Fans of Car Seat Headrest, Japanese Breakfast, and Seth Bogart projects will not be disappointed. Based in Vancouver, Non La has played prominent festivals throughout Canada, including Wonderhorse Festival in Whitehorse and Sled Island in Calgary. At home, they continue to share the stage with popular acts such as Peach Pit and 90s queercore icons, Pansy Division. Building upon their 2021 release Not in Love, which largely focused on longing for a romantic relationship, Non La’s most recent album reckons with what happens when that desire becomes a reality. Like Before is a 12-track alt-pop meditation on long term relationships, the difficulty of recognizing care in routine, and the struggle to do better than whatever maladapted form of love your parents were modelling. Despite the universality of these themes, Non La brings a specifically queer focus to the genre including tracks discussing meeting your partner in a bathhouse and how/if to ever tell your family (“Dark Room”), and the conflicting insecurities (“Hurtful”) and reassurances (“Like Before”) that arise from non-monogamy. As the crush of Not in Love deepened into the romance of Like Before, the band’s musicality has shown similar growth. Rich, nuanced, and more self-assured, the sound on Like Before combines the band’s notorious energy...

Faith Healer

The Hand That Fits The Glove

Mint

Faith Healer quietly crystallizes on their new album The Hand That Fits The Glove, reshaping their already approachable pop sound into something even more immediate and invigorating. With their 2017 album Try ;-), the duo of Jessica Jalbert and producer/multi-instrumentalist Renny Wilson began stripping away some of the ‘60s chamber pop influences that had informed the earliest Faith Healer material, and these eight new songs continue expanding outward in new directions. It’s a multicolored assortment of richly detailed songwriting that feels surprisingly straightforward, knowingly concealing its complexities always just beneath a sheen of composed cool. The evolution that brought Faith Healer to this point has been ongoing since the project’s earliest days. Jalbert and Wilson had been working together since the time when Jalbert was still performing under her own name in the early 2010’s, transitioning to the Faith Healer moniker on 2015 album Cosmic Troubles and their creative partnership truly solidifying with Try ;-). Those albums were built from the ground up with an insular design, with sole contributors Jalbert and Wilson adding overdubs and sculpting the sound. The core Faith Healer duo expands their membership for the first time on The Hand That Fits The Glove, inviting additional musicians into the picture and filling out the sound with a live band feel. Players from various intersections of Canada’s indie circles played on the album, including contributions from longtime Faith Healer collaborators like Jenni Roberts (who’s also done some time as a touring musician on runs with TOPS...

Kelly, Nora Band

Rodeo Clown

Mint

Nora Kelly Band’s first full-length album Rodeo Clown roams the range of country-inflected styles–slow burners to foot stompers—but a theme ties it together. The painted smile of the clown, says band leader Kelly, is something she can relate to in some ways she likes–and others she is working to overcome. “We all know that a clown’s role is to act goofy and make their audience laugh, but underneath we have no idea how they are really feeling. I can relate,” shares Kelly. “I can be too much of a people pleaser, too worried about putting others at ease even when I’m not smiling inside. It’s something I’m working hard to move past, and a lot of the songs on this album reference, in some way, that journey I’m on to break those habits and stand up for myself.” Kelly is quick to point out that just as many songs on the album are joyous and fun, embracing her authentic inner clown who laughs and winks at life’s absurdities. “In my previous punk band, DISHPIT, we’d do crazy stunts in our performances, like walking the drummer through the crowd on a dog leash or spraying them with fake blood. I played all sorts of characters in the lyrics of those songs. And you’ll meet a bunch more in the Nora Kelly Band songs.” From blazing bangers to mysterious moments of beauty and intrigue, the ten songs on Rodeo Clown offer a winding ride towards an inner horizon. Nora Kelly lyrics suggest...

Shraya, Vivek

Baby, You're Projecting

Mint

Multi-disciplinary artist Vivek Shraya has a body of work that crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. Among her list of accomplishments is an impressive catalog of music—including the Polaris Prize-nominated Part-Time Woman with Queer Songbook Orchestra (2017) and Angry by her band Too Attached (2018), which CBC described as one of “Canada’s most incisive, radical and galvanizing albums.” After twenty years of releasing music independently, Shraya will make her Mint label debut with Baby, You’re Projecting. Unlike her previous musical offerings, which were more sonically compartmentalized, Shraya endeavored to create a genre-fluid album. Inspired by great female-fronted pop records (including janet. by Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow’s self-titled album, and Lemonade by Beyoncé), Baby, You’re Projecting holds the breadth of Shraya's sound and style in one space. Ranging from house to hip hop to country, her singular voice and songwriting holds the record together and resonates in every genre. Produced by and co-written with frequent collaborator James Bunton (Donovan Woods, Ohbijou), Baby, You’re Projecting is a break-up album that explores Shraya's tenuous relationships with men. The record also features performances by Alanna Stuart (Bonjay), Christine Bougie (Bahamas, Amy Millan) and Kimmortal. It is being co-released with a 12-minute film titled “He Loves Me Until He Hates Me,” set to songs from the record and directed by award-winning cinematographer Gabriela Osio Vanden. Taking inspiration from '90s classics like The Bodyguard and erotic thrillers, the film creates a meaningful (and playful) look at the unpredictability of masculinity—how it...

Miesha And The Spanks

Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi

Mint

Uncompromising, witty, authentic, inspiring–Miesha & The Spanks have established themselves as a rock ‘n’ roll force of nature to be reckoned with. The Calgary-based duo are equal parts searing guitarist / heart-melting vocalist and all-stage / all-star percussionist personality. Vexatious frontwoman Miesha Louie sets the steamrollers of love a-rollin’, ploughing through obstacles and destroying assumptions, like a red-hot indie music machine. Her new record Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi is her Mint Records debut; the album was produced by The Buzzcocks' Danny Farrant. The record's themes touch on personal and political topics such as parenthood and stories related to Miesha's mixed Shuswap heritage. Miesha and the Spanks have extensive tour plans following the release of Unconditional Love in Hi-Fi including the UK, Europe, US and Canada. RIYL: Wet Leg, Alvvays, Fleshwater, Black Mountain, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Joan Jett

Only A Visitor

Decay

Mint

Described as “Bjork's light-footed nymph child,” (Beatroute) Vancouver quintet Only A Visitor brings a precise and buoyant live energy to song-crafting with their “kaleidoscopic compositions” (Dusted Magazine.) Fusing together avant-pop, jazz, classical and DIY influences and substituting guitar with three part harmonies that “display a delightful innovation” (HuffPost,) they have released three albums to date and have recently signed to Mint Records for their fourth release Decay. Since forming in 2015, they have appeared at the Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver Jazz Festivals and the Vancouver Island Music Festival, among others, and have toured Canada and internationally. With drummer Kevin Romain, bassist Jeff Gammon, and vocalists Emma Postl and Celina Kurz, classically trained but DIY nurtured songwriter and arranger Robyn Jacob wraps gently asymmetrical sonic tendrils around pop skeletons.

Dumb

Pray 4 Tomorrow

Mint

DUMB had a classic start as a DIY outfit back in 2015, playing their first shows in the dining room of a tear-down in east Vancouver. The four band members, Franco Rossino, Shelby Vredik, Pipe Morelli, and Nick Short, were all part of a larger group of friends that jammed and partied together often. Seven years later, the band is set to release their third LP with Mint Records, Pray 4 Tomorrow—self-recorded at Choms, a studio co-owned by Nick Short and Franco Rossino. DUMB has toured extensively in North America and Europe, played with Wolf Parade and Dilly Dally, and are known for their catchy punk rhythms, squealing guitar feedback, and strongly spoken lyrics. Over the years DUMB’s songwriting has developed, and on Pray 4 Tomorrow their pop sensibilities manage to shine through the dissonant tones and syncopated rhythms borrowed from Yo La Tengo and Devo. Consider “Excuse me”, which finds a Beach Boys-esque melody placed gently atop the drop-tuned dissonance of Rossino and Short’s duelling guitars, or “Gibberish”—a heavy hitting post-punk bop that culminates in a melodic instrumental piano outro. DUMB is doing their best to balance their noisier tendencies with pretty melodies, in an approach similar to San Francisco’s Pardoner. Rossino’s vocals have matured from abstract rambling towards nuanced commentary, often poking fun at his own self-righteous attitude towards the stress of living in the information age. In “Out of Touch”, Rossino yells “I can see you talking but it sounds like simulations, I’m not sure...

Heaven For Real

Energy Bar

Mint

"My life: a slow clap progression, pace rising; to celebrate in the smallest finding - feels right to show admiration that grows," Mark Grundy begins on “Slow Clap”, the first track from Heaven For Real’s sophomore full-length Energy Bar. Formed in 2012, and consisting of songwriter twins Mark and J. Scott Grundy (Quaker Parents) and their frequent collaborators, drummer Nathan Doucet and synth player/percussionist Cher Hann, the Toronto by way of Halifax project has been taking time to shape the follow-up to their 2016 Mint debut, Kill Your Memory. Springboarding from their early 2022 EP, Sweet Rose Green Winter Desk Top Tell This Side Autumn Of The Fighter Hot In A Cool Way, they describe the project as a “living collaboration”, one that strives to compress life’s truths into a distorted reflection of all of its facets. It’s this that drives Energy Bar – a hyper, trash-compacted mosaic of the band ten years that’s simultaneously dreamlike and alive. Recording the album with Jonas Bonnetta at Port William Sound, H4R aimed to cultivate an electrically charged live energy, which they fuse with rich and playful compositions. Tracks like “Lately” and “Energy Bar” are defined by tireless, wired drums, around which are woven buoyant guitar lines, sounding at times like the weirder shades of bands like Meat Puppets, Prefab Sprout and even early Cate Le Bon. Included too are hints of The Feelies, Mdou Moctar, Built To Spill and Cast; Heaven For Real’s approach is an experimental one, yet one unafraid to...

Kamikaze Nurse

Stimuloso

Mint

Few bands torpedo the ears with as much intensity as Kamikaze Nurse. Since forming in 2018, the Vancouver quartet have captivated audiences with scorching music that’s been described as “ethereal skronk,” “Deleuzian rock,” and the “best of the ‘90s.” In 2019, they released their first full-length, Bucky Fleur, via Agony Klub. This spring, Kamikaze Nurse make their Mint Records debut with the focused and dynamic Stimuloso. Combining the word “stimulus” and the Spanish suffix “-oso,” Stimuloso explores—and elicits—just that: a stimulated, excited feeling. Whereas Bucky Fleur engulfed listeners in swirling chaos, Stimuloso presents an evolution, taking risks in playful introspection and refined composition. In 2020, amidst the first wave of the pandemic, the members spent six months self-recording instrumentals for Stimuloso in their jam space. After another weekend completing vocals at Rain City Recorders, they handed off the album to Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, who further endowed Stimuloso with swagger and teeth through his skillful mixing. haracteristic of Kamikaze Nurse, whose name comes from activist-philosopher Simone Weil’s unfulfilled humanitarian death wish, Stimuloso draws inspiration from an array of sources including David Cronenburg’s gut-wrenching tragedy Dead Ringers, the free-flowing, vaguely narrative poetry of John Ashbery, and Mao Zedong’s “Iron Girls,” icons of changing gender norms during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Softly spoken lines of poetry combine with recurring motifs of animals barking, snapping, and growling to conjure a sensory universe both ethereal and familiar.

Kellarissa

Voice Leading

Mint

KELLARISSA offers redemption to lost souls searching for meaning in dark places. Voice Leading, her fourth full-length album with Mint Records, is a vulnerable, self-real-ized ode to female desire, regret, shame, self- compassion, and cautious healing. Kellarissa (Finnish for “in the basement”) is the solo moniker of experimental pop artist Larissa Loyva, whose two-decade-long out- put of exacting pop music also includes her critically acclaimed collaborations with Nicholas Krgovich in the chamber pop band p:ano, synth-pop duo Fake Tears, early pop- choir ingenues The Choir Practice, as well as stints as a touring member of How to Dress Well and Destroyer. She is best known for layering vocals and synthesized sounds, and for making abstract themes relatable through her questioning lyrics and poetic sensibilities. Kellarissa composed Voice Leading during lockdowns and times of uncertainty, allowing her to explore her psyche through her music: “Creating in this vacuum had a wild effect on me, had me constantly doubting my own abilities. My imposter syndrome was off the charts at times. But I pushed myself to continue writing and recording, and to face the effects problematic drinking and pent-up mental anguish had on my creativity and sense of self; it gave me the perspective to discover areas in which I needed help and healing in my life.” Although the album was self-produced and recorded, Kellarissa enlisted the help of Jesse Gander (Japandroids, The Pack A.D.) and Jeff Cancade (Devours, The Golden Age of Wrestling) for final mixing touches, and the record was...

Pack A.d.

Unpersons - 10th Anniversary Edition

Mint

The Pack A.D. and Mint Records have teamed up once again to awaken the dormant beast that is Unpersons. Originally released on September 13, 2011, Mint Records is releasing a 10th anniversary edition of Unpersons on “haunted” glow-in-the-dark vinyl with a foil cover. This limited 10th anniversary reissue celebrates an album that established The Pack A.D. as a band by which to compare others. Shredding and pounding their way through every song, The Pack A.D. swallows the listener whole inside their own fearless Franken-blend of heavy psych pop / garage-rock. Unpersons was recorded at the legendary Hive Studios with engineer Jesse Gander and famed Detroit producer (The White Stripes, The Detroit Cobras, Electric 6) Jim Diamond, who insisted on flying in to produce the record firsthand. After the sessions, the band went back to Michigan to perfect the mix together. The result was a flawless record that took all the snarl, piss, vinegar, venom and vitriol heard on the band’s first three albums into a realm distinctly their own. Any prior reference to other rock duos like The Kills or White Stripes became no longer relevant after this. Ten years later, singles from Unpersons are still some of the band’s most recognizable and beloved, including fan favourites “Sirens” and “Haunt You”. Long live The Pack A.D.!

Dumb + Tough Age

Pizza Punks

Mint

Mint Records is dishing out their tastiest single since cub’s Hot Dog Day! In collaboration with notorious Vancouver comic artist Cole Pauls and Conundrum Press, theyve got a 2 for 1 deal lined up that will make your mouth water! To celebrate Cole’s new comic collection, Pizza Punks, they’ve rounded up the savory sounds of two of Vancouver’s deluxe punk combos, Dumb and Tough Age! Both tracks are presented on a personal sized 7 inch platter pressed on melted mozza yellow vinyl. The record also comes with a bonus 8 page comic book featuring Dumb’s XL adventures, illustrated by Cole Pauls, and Risograph printed by Moniker Press.

Lee, Sook-yin & Adam Litovitz

Jooj Two

Mint

An iconic Canadian media figure, Sook-Yin Lee is an award-winning filmmaker, musician, actor, visual artist and broadcaster who has immersed herself in myriad creative collaborations. Many of them were made with her life partner and frequent co-creator Adam Litovitz, including their 2015 ethereal electroacoustic album jooj. Though Litovitz passed away in 2019, his work with Lee lives on with jooj two, an unapologetic dive into playful art-pop and a document of a lost language between lovers. While financial difficulties and external pressures contributed to the end of their romantic relationship, Lee and Litovitz remained best friends and creative partners. As he was busy with a soundtrack for Netflix, Litovitz gave Lee his blessing to continue working on their second album without him. Increasingly, Litovitz struggled with anxiety and depression, compounded by a prescription drug dependency that exacerbated insomnia and pain. Tragically, he died by suicide June 16, 2019.  Litovitz’s passing was a profound loss for Lee and so many who loved him. Lee saw pieces of his irrepressible spirit—as well as the story of their relationship—contained within the music they had recorded for jooj two and was determined to share it with the world. With the assistance of mixer Steve Chahley (U.S. Girls, Badge Époque Ensemble, Darlene Shrugg), Lee completed this album and will share it with the world this spring. There is an intentionality and inherent uniqueness to jooj two’s songwriting approach that first took shape by Lee responding to a musical phrase with vocal melodies and stream of...

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...

Wares

Survival

Mint

Few albums combine raw vulnerability with shredding solos as seamlessly as Wares’ Survival. On her first release for Mint Records, Edmonton’s Cassia Hardy blazes through riff-wielding indie-rock symphonies for anyone striving to stay alive and create a brighter future. By sharing her own journey towards hope, she hopes to light a path for anyone lost in the dark. As Hardy explains in its liner notes, “this record is dedicated to decolonial activists, anti-fascist agitators, prairie queers fighting for community and a better life.” Since Wares’ origin as a solo project, Hardy’s guitar skills have taken centre stage. Learning how to play thrash-metal solos provided her with the instrumental ability to create emotionally riveting songs, rising to meet the intensely personal lyrics about her life experiences. While the Flying V hasn’t left her hands since the days of playing riffs by Megadeth and Metallica, she learned to meld these six-string pyrotechnics with loud-quiet-loud dynamics into a sound that feels vibrantly original. Previous Wares releases have flickered with a slow burn, yet Survival lights the fuse from ominous to explosive in its first sixty seconds. This change in mood can be credited to the past year of touring across Canada with the stalwart live band of keyboardist Jamie Mclean, bassist Matthew Gooding, and drummer Holly Greaves, who also perform throughout the album. Their arrangements are meticulous, while Hardy’s production alongside engineers Mason Pixel and Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung) refine these songs into crystalline clarity. Hardy’s dramatically enunciated vocal delivery has earned...

Lié

You Want It Real

Mint

With ties to techno and a penchant for earth-rumbling post-punk—along with a staunch willingness to stop rape culture, privilege and patriarchy in its tracks—there’s no denying that Vancouver trio lié [pronounced “lee-ey” and lower-case preferred] are an integral force in the global underground. Since forming in 2013, they’ve only grown louder, brasher and more intense as they’ve developed their sound across numerous releases and a near endless stream of international DIY tours. That momentum has culminated in You Want It Real, an eight-song album. This fourth album expands on previous themes with an assured intensity and plenty of world-weary lyrics. Sonically, lié’s recordings have unlocked the full-bore wall of sound that’s present in their live shows. That’s due in part to the work of legendary punk producer Jesse Gander (White Lung, Japandroids), who has helped unlock a further disharmony of melody and feedback in the band’s relentless aggression. While the band has previously made a name for eschewing vagaries in favor of direct confrontation in their lyrics, this album leaves plenty open to interpretation. As guitarist and vocalist Ashlee Luk explains, the goal was to let some musical and metaphorical moments stand on their own. “Part of the shift away from the direct lyrics of previous albums is also in part to encourage the listener, (and the interviewer) to focus on the music as well, not just the lyrics,” Luk says. Musically, the sheer thrill of the album is the trio’s ability to build enormous and complex compositions within the...

Woolworm

Awe

Mint

With their massive sonics and anthemic pop songwriting, Woolworm is an arena rock band that just happens to perform in DIY venues. Their music, which somehow seamlessly combines shoegaze, Britpop, postpunk, hardcore and black-metal into an impossibly cohesive sound, is the sum of their parts. Heather Black pounds her bass like she’s ripping a basement punk set before delivering sweet vocal harmonies straight out of the C86 compilation. Nick Tolliday pummels his drums with the reckless abandon of the hardcore scene that birthed the band. All the while, dual guitarists Alex Pomeroy and Giles Roy offer intricate, complex riff interplay as often as they stomp their pedals and break into hard-hitting power chords. The band’s third album Awe expands the band’s already robust songbook even further by offering a new take on their heavy, hardcore-inflected indie pop sound. The band’s bleakly fulfilling 2017 album Deserve To Die saw them meticulously planning every note before entering the studio with venerable Vancouver producer Jesse Gander. This time around, they recorded with labelmate Jay Arner whenever the inspiration hit. “Even though some of these songs date back to before Deserve To Die, we allowed ourselves to be spontaneous and open-minded here and took a collage approach to the overall record,” Roy says of Awe. “We let it be scrappier and more diverse and less symmetrical.” The result is a collection of songs that are bristling with immediacy and, well, life. “Deserve To Die was a sort of exorcism, and this one’s more of...

Necking

Cut Your Teeth

Mint

Since self-releasing their 2017 campus radio hit cassette EP, Meditation Tape, Necking have become fixtures of Vancouver’s fertile DIY community, playing non-stop with live shows nearly every weekend. Bringing this stage-honed performance into the studio, the band’s four members—singer Hannah Karren, guitarist Nada Hayek, bassist Sonya R, and drummer Melissa Kuipers—worked in collaboration with acclaimed producer Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung). Cut Your Teeth, the band’s first release from Mint Records, amplifies their sinewy sound while maintaining its agitated energy and tightly coiled instrumental interplay. Like all the best punk bands, Necking’s members pull from many different genre-defined boundaries, spanning everything from ‘90s emo to grunge, disco, and drone. One band they can all agree on is X-Ray Spex, whose singer Poly Styrene channeled her day-to-day life into Day Glo songs of resistance. On their signature 1978 song “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!”, she flips the bird to anyone who thinks “little girls should be seen and not heard.” Necking carry on this tradition with fearlessly personal, occasionally painful, and empowering lyrics based on their own experiences. On “Big Mouth,” Karren proclaims, “can’t make me cum/so I made you leave,” before adding, “it was way hotter in your memory.” On the sarcasm-dripping “Boss,” her gaze turns to “the man in charge of her livelihood” who can “get it,” while the feverish “Habbo Hotel” flashes back to their formative A/S/L experiences. Cut Your Teeth is about finding independence after being stuck in a cycle of codependence. It’s about being fixated on the...

Dumb

Club Nites

Mint

Dumb are good at plenty of things, but relaxing isn’t one of them. The Vancouver four-piece write feverish tunes at a frantic pace, delivering catchy post-punk songs in two-minute blasts of wiry riffs and indignant social critiques. Less than a year since they signed to Mint Records for 2018’s Seeing Green, they’re already back with a new full-length, Club Nites—this time with even more neuroticism and indignation! As the title indicates, Club Nites is a collection of narratives drawn from the nightlife ecosystem. Attempting to break from the typical romanticized version of “the club” as seen on TV, the album instead depicts a bleak social setting, where one zooms in on seemingly petty details in order to reveal the cracks that Hollywood forgot to fill. Cynical but never self-serious, these songs offer gritty insights about being unable to meet the lofty expectations of your peers (“Beef Hits”), showing disregard towards your closest friends (“My Condolences”) and feeling overstimulated in a meme-fueled cultural economy (“Content Jungle”). This album has the energy of a raw nerve: the songs are dry and in-your-face, with crisp production that leaves every squeal of feedback and hollered refrain exposed. Dumb wrote and self-produced it in their own studio over the course of a few months in early 2019, with mastering from Mikey Young (Total Control). Packing fourteen tracks into a little more than half an hour, the band is unfailingly economical, with no-nonsense song structures that last just long enough to get stuck in the head.

Case, Neko

Virginian

Mint

*** Back in print on CD! Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork. Before being crowned an alt-country goddess, Neko Case was familiar to Mint fans from her drummin' thunder in MAOW. Neko stepped out from behind the kit and into the singer's spotlight to release twelve amazing songs on The Virginian that stretch from out'n'out hillbilly stompers to Loretta Lynn-like lovesick ballads. Neko collected a jamboree of indie and bluegrass legends as her backing band for these early recordings, including Brian Connelly (Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet), Matt Murphy (Superfriendz), Carl Newman (New Pornographers), Rose Melberg (Softies, Tiger Trap), and Beez (Smugglers), among several others.

Dumb

Seeing Green

Mint

Dumb is the new smart. Don’t believe it? Look no further than this ridiculously prolific Vancouver quartet, who have somehow cracked the code on including quality with their quantity. Over the last two years, they have self-released three albums of quirky, frenetic post-punk. While others might go stale, however, this band breaks new ground with each new idea. Enter Seeing Green, the band’s first full-length for Mint Records. The album’s fourteen tracks were produced by Jordan Koop (Wolf Parade, You Say Party, The Courtneys) at the Noise Floor on Gabriola Island, BC. While it’s the band’s first time working on this relatively larger scale, Koop’s production has crystallized their ideas. The result is a batch of songs that sound both urgent and timeless, referencing classic post-punk projects like DEVO, Pylon and the Mekons, while placing them nicely within the pantheon of Canadian contemporaries like Ought, Fountain and Freak Heat Waves. Their jagged guitars and punchy rhythm section lay a perfect basis for their lyrics, all of which explore the inherent absurdity of modern life. At times paranoid and other times exuberant, it dares you to dance and deconstruct. It’s a trim, explosive collection of songs that suggests these four will be cranking out hits for years to come. It’s time to get Dumb.

Peach Kelli Pop

Gentle Leader

Mint

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  L.A.’s DIY sunshine punk favorites Peach Kelli Pop are back with Gentle Leader, the band’s fourth full length album and first in three years. It is a departure for the band’s founder, Allie Hanlon, demonstrating growth and a new confidence as a musician and songwriter. Following close on the tails of the band’s recent EP, Which Witch, their first with renowned Canadian indie pop label Mint Records, the album captures the band at a crossroads exploring new ideas and complexity while maintaining their colorful energy. Gentle Leader’s ten tracks are inspired by a unique range of guitar-driven power pop and feedback laden post-punk from the ’80s and ’90s. Unlike the band’s past releases which were almost entirely written, recorded and produced by Hanlon, this album is a collaborative effort. Engineer / producer Roland Cosio played guitar on some of the songs. Sophie Negrini is also on guitar, and Andrew Bassett of Portland’s party-punk band Mean Jeans provided the drumming. This new collaborative spirit works well, highlighting the strengths of each performer and creating a more sophisticated record without sacrificing Hanlon’s distinct vision. Like a collection of short stories, each of the ten tracks on this album possesses its own background, narrative and unique charm.

Peach Kelli Pop

Which Witch

Mint

Allie Hanlon’s Peach Kelli Pop returns after 2 years with a 6 song EP, Which Witch, available exclusively at independent record shops for RSD 2018 via Mint Records. In December 2017, Hanlon spent a week in her hometown of Ottawa, Canada. She recorded the EP in just four days, utilizing the dust-coated equipment left in her bedroom after she emigrated to the United States in 2013. “I really benefited from being in the specific home, and even room where I learned to play music when I was growing up.” Upon first listen, a new level of vulnerability is instantly detectable, effectively separating this release from any of the bands previous creations. This new intimacy is due to the predominantly autobiographical lyrics: songs about isolation, depression and feeling like an outsider in Hanlon’s current home of Los Angeles. Nevertheless, she is markedly optimistic about the future; “I am proud of these songs, and working with Mint feels like both serendipity & destiny at the same time. I’ve been a big fan of Mint since I started going to shows and getting into punk music.” Hanlon intentionally returned to where she first started Peach Kelli Pop in 2010. Eight years later, the band has toured extensively (including annual trips to Japan), has 3 full length albums and a handful of 7” releases. It’s been five years since Hanlon relocated to Los Angeles, and two since she joined forces with sisters Gina and Sophie Negrini (bass and guitar respectively) and Shelly Schimek (drums)....

V/a

Citr's Pop Alliance Vol. 5

Mint

CiTR 101.9FM and Discorder Magazine have teamed up with Mint Records for the fifth volume of Pop Alliance. The series, which has become a bi-annual tradition between Mint Records and the University of British Columbia radio station, aims to showcase everything that is new and vital in the Vancouver independent music scene. Past artists featured have included The Courtneys, Weed, Ora Cogan, Apollo Ghosts, Peace along with a wide variety of other Vancouver staples. This year another group of artists from a diverse range of disciplines including High Plains, Swim Team, Tough Customer and more highlight some of the best from the West Coast circa 2017-18. Curated by Music Director Andy Resto and members of the CiTR Student Executive, CiTR and Discorder have settled on a broader understanding of the definition of “pop” this time around. Interspersed throughout the record are small interludes which use distorted clips of songs that had appeared on previous Pop Alliance compilations. The interludes serve as both a callback to the history of the series while also signifying a departure into musical and artistic realms beyond their initial scope. This gives a vitality and living nature to the record which reflects the ever changing and growing landscape of Vancouver’s music scene.

Kellarissa

Ocean Electro

Mint

Larissa Loyva first became entangled with Mint Records in 2005 with P:ano, her project with Nicholas Krgovich. Since then, she has had her hand in a boatload of projects including Fake Tears and The Choir Practice, and has served as a touring member of Destroyer and How To Dress Well. Loyva has also released two solo albums on Mint under the name Kellarissa, which is Finnish for “in the basement”. This project returns in 2018 with Ocean Electro, proposing a new genre which entangles femme psych-electronica with driving synth-pop. The album is dedicated to the planet’s mysterious forces, namely the ocean, in all its metaphorical and natural powers. Citing influences as diverse as Vi Subversa, Pulp, Christopher Isherwood, Visage, and an entire poem by Sylvia Plath, this album features sophisticated and ethereal vocals that bring to mind Molly Nilsson or the West Coast experimental pop of White Poppy. While continuing to explore the endless possibilities of using loops to compose, beginning with 2008’s Flamingo, Ocean Electro adds driving bass and an infectious buoyancy. It effortlessly embodies menace, joy and determination—while dark tides churn, Kellarissa reminds us to stay attuned to the lift to come, for a future less determined by clever men.

Lié

Consent

Mint

Mint Records is thrilled to be working with Vancouver cold-punk band Lié on a cassette reissue of their vital and ferocious 2014 album Consent. Consent is just as relevant now as it was when it was originally released in 2014. One of the best punk records to ever come out of Vancouver, it sounds more agitated and incensed than anything White Lung or The Dishrags ever spewed at their polite Canadian audience. Consent bites and snaps and scrapes and boils. The band whips 30 years of essential punk, noise and goth into a dizzying frenzy that reminds you about all the things you should still be angry about.

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.”

Faith Healer

Try ;-)

Mint

When Edmonton’s Jessica Jalbert first began performing solo under the name Faith Healer, the alias was her way of avoiding being pigeonholed as a singer-songwriter. Now, however, times have changed: Faith Healer has blossomed into a band, with singer-guitarist Jalbert joined by drummer / multi-instrumentalist Renny Wilson and their first album as a duo is Try ;-). The follow-up to 2015’s Cosmic Troubles was largely recorded during an intensive month-long session in September 2016 at Wilson’s personal studio in Montreal. During the process, Jalbert rented a room in Wilson’s house and the pair spent hours jamming and listening to bargain bin rock records in the basement. The resultant pop-rock arrangements are overflowing with beautiful sonic details—from the Twin Peaks synths that enshroud “Sterling Silver” to the funky clavinet nestled within the paisley-patterned pop of “& Waiting.” Jalbert and Wilson were also inspired by the garage-punk snarl of Wipers, the deadpan drama of Leonard Cohen’s Death Of A Ladies’ Man, and the classic songwriting chops of Scott Walker and Elvis Costello. The intensive creative process of making this album inspired the title and serves as a reminder that sometimes you need to grab life by the horns rather than waiting for inspiration to strike. As for that winky face: “I always use that winky emoticon,” Jalbert says with a laugh. “I think it’s hilarious. I think it’s cheeky and fun, which is something I was trying to access a little more with this record.” Balancing melancholy lyrics with playful moods, lush...

Woolworm

Deserve To Die

Mint

Woolworm, Vancouver’s most popular punk house-party band, have been at it since 2008 and have released a slew of singles on hot Canadian underground labels such as Hockey Dad Records (Vancouver) and Debt Offensive (Calgary). Their feedback-soaked tributes to teen years wasted playing in punk bands have long been crowd favorites at their many sweaty and over capacity Vancouver appearances. The band is known for their searing guitar fuzz and sickly sweet vocal melodies backed by the heavy drumming of a hardcore band. They recently signed with Vancouver’s Mint Records for the release of their new record Deserve To Die. The album was recorded at Rain City Recorders with Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung) and captures the live energy of the group while also showcasing their strong melodies and dark but dry lyrics.

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.

Smugglers, The

Dirty Windshields - The Soundtrack

Mint

In conjuction with Grant Lawrence's new book DIRTY WINDSHIELDS, The Best and Worst of The Smugglers Tour Diaries, Mint records is releasing this companion soundtrack, which features the "best" of the Smugglers catalogue from 1988-2004.

Evaporators

Ogopogo Punk

Mint

From the depths of the uncharted wilderness (or is it “wildness”?) Nardwuar the Human Serviette, John Collins, Stephen Hamm, Nick Thomas and Shawn Mrazek, known hereafter as The Evaporators, have released eight new songs in the form of a digital download and colored vinyl, titled Ogopogo Punk! The Evaporators sing about a lot of things on this latest album including: shaving, mohawks and dreadlocks, eating to win, the mythical landlocked BC monster the Ogopogo, Skagit Valley’s Chuckanut Drive and a whole lot more! Over the past decade The Evaporators have graced stages / halls / living rooms with everyone from Anal Mucus to Sleater-Kinney to the Whack Attack Puppet Show.

Monomyth

Happy Pop Family

Mint

Happy Pop Family is the latest offering from Monomyth, Canada’s leading purveyors of mid-fi anthemic bedroom pop. Recorded in February of 2015 with Mike Wright (Each Other) at Montreal’s infamous Drones Club, the album has tweaked and refined the sonic palette of their 2014 debut Saturnalia Regalia. The resulting batch of songs is imbued with an almost Blake-ian wonder, delicately balancing like Charlie Chaplin on a taut guitar cable between innocence and experience. Though main songwriters / guitarists Josh Salter and Seamus Dalton (Nap Eyes’ bassist and drummer, respectively) are joined by a new rhythm section on their sophomore effort, the two keep everything in their Happy Pop Family by adding a pair of frequent collaborators. Multi-instrumentalist Scott Grundy (Heaven For Real / Quaker Parents) joins on drums while bassist Andrew Mazerolle provides scintillating low-end. Each brings a song to sweeten the pot, making this a truly family affair. Analog fetishists take note: the album was recorded to tape and mixed straight off the board, adding idiosyncratic charm and character to the songs. Their inventive blend of jangle and fuzz would slide in comfortably alongside the back catalogs of Creation, Flying Nun or Ork Records. Like a family heirloom, these pop gems shine, refracting one another’s light to create a diamond-like unity.

Heaven For Real

Kill Your Memory

Mint

Heaven For Real has been fine-tuning their distinct approach to songwriting since 2012. Kill Your Memory, their Mint debut, is a collection of songs brimming with their idiosyncratic brand of maximalist pop music. Equally enamoured with undeniable melodic hooks as they are with unconventional sounds, Heaven For Real emerges as fully formed left-field masters with the unique ability to turn directions on a dime. Fraternal twin songwriters Mark and Scott Grundy (Quaker Parents /  Monomyth), in tandem with rhythmic partners Cheryl Hann (Old and Weird / Picnicface) and Nathan Doucet (ex-Crosss), spent two years developing their personal musical language. The result of overnight sessions at their local studio (Echo Chamber Audio) and much tinkering out of their Halifax homes, Kill Your Memory marries poetic lyrical narratives with a special blend of experimental rock n’ roll. The album incorporates the adventurousness of jazz and nervous post-punk energy with ornamental touches of tape collage and electronics. Brian Eno would be proud. The album begins with “Subliminal,” a perfect summation of the band’s creative process. As the music trapezes effortlessly between harmony and dissonance, it mixes the inventive spirit of Os Mutantes and the child-like playfulness of the Elephant Six Collective. Throughout the song, the brothers spur each other on to greater heights as each tries to best the other, posing pointed questions as part of the endless march toward self-perfection. Title track “Kill Your Memory” serves as the record’s skeleton key. Nervy and lumbering guitar strides until the chorus demands the listener...

Arner, Jay

Jay Ii

Mint

Received a 7.0 rating from Pitchfork. Jay Arner’s Jay II is music for outsiders who might not want to be insiders. Sophisticated synth-pop for sensitive types, existential glam rock for the unsettled—these songs are the soundtrack to fitting in, finding your place in the world of suffering, and finally coming to terms with yourself. “Following my first album I toured extensively for two years, going to a lot of places I’ve never been,” Arner explains. “I love touring but on another level I viscerally felt how huge and indifferent the world is. I visited the Grand Canyon twice. It’s an amazing monument to deep time. What am I? I’m a human musician.” In his quest for self-discovery, Arner channels inspirations ranging from the cheeky charm of Sparks to the regal slink of Roxy Music; the soaring hooks of Fleetwood Mac to the propulsive drive of La Dusseldorf. Jay II synthesizes glam, prog and electronic funk into a shimmering 2016 pastiche. However, it goes beyond studied homage into the realm of relatable as only pure pop for now people can. Like on the first album, Arner plays most instruments alongside Jessica Delisle, his partner in Energy Slime. Tone-zoned guitars, sci-fi synths and muscular drum fills buff up the understated arrangements like a six-pack revealed under a sweater vest. Recorded and mixed in the span of a month with minimal fuss, these nine songs sound both airtight and breezy. “People in cool bands, playing sweet shows, smoking outside on the street.” These...

Supermoon

Playland

Mint

The self-proclaimed gadabouts of moody pop are at it again! Supermoon’s latest excursion, Playland, bubbles with intelligent, weirdo songs that combine sunny riffs and distorted ring-outs. Coated in sugary vocals with driving bass, spectral guitars and marching drums, the songs of Supermoon wink at something lurking beneath the surface. Rising from the ashes of two former Vancouver bands—the garage rock outfit Movieland and jangle pop trio Pups—Supermoon recalls the best aspects from both groups on its catchy, challenging songs. Multi-instrumentalists Adrienne LaBelle and Alie Lynch take turns adding rich, dark bass and bright, sneering lead lines. Katie Gravestock, known as Groovestock to her bandmates, lives up to her nickname by supplying an endless supply of smooth, melodic riffs. Selina Crammond provides the backbone to the group with her playful drumbeats, reminiscent of the Flying Nun catalogue. As each of the members trade off on vocals and songwriting duties, the album is at once eclectic and cohesive. The interplay between the musicians is central to the group’s sound as each instrument weaves in and out of the soundscape. Dueling guitar riffs, dynamic breakdowns, and responsive rhythms are all direct results of this reciprocity. The outcome of the band’s close relationship can also be heard in the warmth that permeates the album. There is a distinct tenderness to their musicianship, even in its more ominous moments. Part hot fudge sundae, part film noir; prepare to be weirded out by the addictive and intricate novelty of Supermoon’s Playland. Who knows what darkness lurks...

V/a

Citr Pop Alliance Vol. 4

Mint

Spring approaches, breathing new life into the Canadian landscape. Across a clearing in the woods, a miraculous sight: CiTR Pop Alliance Compilation, Volume 4! Mint Records and CiTR 101.9FM have partnered up once again to release the fourth edition of this compilation series, with eleven songs from Vancouver’s freshest acts. The record arrives just in time to raise funds for the local campus and community radio station as part of their annual Fundrive, which runs from February 25 to March 4. It’s the newest chapter in a lengthy story of partnership between Mint and CiTR. Side A opens with Ora Cogan’s surreal “Move,” from her acclaimed EP Crystallize (Hidden City). Track two’s a retro thrill from the The Shilohs, “Do the Modern,” off of their upcoming tape Empress Stars (Light Organ). The rest of Side A charts an excited path through Vancouver post-punk: with exclusive tracks from Genderdog (RIP) and newly-formed trio Jerk Jails, along with Poor Form’s 2014 single “July.” It fades out with a special treat: Cult Babies’ tribute to Lauren Smith of Tough Age, “Sister Thirteen,” exclusive to Pop Alliance Vol. 4. Side B expands the boundaries of pop further, opening with two haunting electronic-experimental melanges: Mourning Coup’s “Burn One for the Saints” from Baby Blue (No Sun), and Stefana Fratila’s “Homeland” off of Efemera (Trippy Cool). Two ecstatic meshes of indie rock and shoegaze noise follow with Late Spring’s “Drink You,” from their 2015 debut, and an exclusive track from Ace Martens, “Hiding.” Closing out the...

Fake Tears

Nightshifting

Mint

Before joining together as Fake Tears, Larissa Loyva and Elisha May Rembold were already established singers and songwriters in their own right. The former released two spectral albums under the name Kellarissa, toured the world as a live member of Destroyer and How to Dress Well, and played in past Mint Records acts P:ano and The Choir Practice; the latter leads the folk-rock band the Lost Lovers Brigade and is a member of Shimmering Stars. The pair first collaborated when Loyva joined the lineup of Lost Lovers, and honed their chemistry during a stint as backup vocalists in the funky local ensemble COOL TV. Their current project dates back to 2012, when Loyva and Rembold got together as part of a larger ensemble. “I thought I’d make an all-woman supergroup,” Loyva remembers. “We started with five, and then, after a couple of months and a couple of practices, we were down to two. And then it just stuck.” This stripped-down duo lineup carved out a new sound focused around haunting, buzzy synths and angelically soaring harmonies. The friends developed their talents as beat-makers, providing a pulsing backdrop for their shadowy synth-pop songs, and perfected their material during frequent live shows. Upon signing with Mint, the ladies looked to labelmate Jay Arner to produce their debut album. In just a handful of sessions, they built on top of their existing demo tracks, fleshing out their dual microKORG playing using Arner’s collection of analog synths. The result is Nightshifting, a radiant collection...

Wilson, Renny

Punk Explosion / Extension

Mint

Punk Explosion / Extension, or Punk Ex for short, is the latest musical detour from the loins of Canadian avant-pop artist Renny Wilson. Recorded between 2007 and 2014, Punk Ex follows Wilson’s natural progression from the breakup of his high school garage punk band The Subatomics to his present-day life in Montréal. Originally available in an extremely limited, abridged cassette version simply titled Punk Explosion, the album was a collection of Wilson’s more abrasive recordings from the past seven years. Adding a handful of previously unreleased songs recorded at his home studio in Park Ex, Montréal, in late 2014, Punk Explosion / Extension sees the original recordings back and bulkier than ever. Recalling snotty ’70s punk, cornball classic rock and scratchy ’90s garage punk, the album makes more than subtle hints at the past while painting a clear picture of the future. From the lighter fare of “Youngsters” and “Clean” to the cheeky cock-rock of “Stiffed” and the guttural, cartoonish power-pop of “Escaping Alive,” Punk Ex offers a variety of leather-jacket-bound jams, as one would expect from an album made over so many years. Setbacks and stylistic evolutions aside, Wilson’s own personal Chinese Democracy is available to the public at last!

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...