We've been going to see Dumb play for a couple of years now and loved every wild and cramped DIY second of it! They're the best bits of all of your favourite post-punk bands and they kinda sound like Mission of Burma covering Devo. We've also loved all three albums the band has put out in the last two years! Three albums in two years! I can't even get up in time to make toast before I go to work in the morning!

We wanted to see where Dumb was going to take us so we signed 'em up for a new record which they have called Seeing Green. It's coming out (on green vinyl of course) on June 22, 2018. The first single (appropriately called Mint) just dropped today... have a listen and get Dumb with us!

 

 

Here is the one sheet if you want to be further sold on how cool Dumb is:

Dumb is the new smart. Don’t believe us? 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, Dumb have self-released three albums of quirky, frenetic post-punk. While others might go stale, however, the band seems to break new ground with each new idea.

Enter Seeing Green, the band’s first full-length for Mint Records. The album’s 14 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 simply crystallized their ideas.

The result is a batch of songs that sound both urgent and timeless, referencing classic post-punk projects like DEVO, Pylon or the Mekons while placing them nicely within the pantheon of Canadian contemporaries like Ought, Fountain and Freak Heat Waves.

Musically, Seeing Green’s jagged guitars and punchy rhythm section lay a perfect basis for their lyrics, all of which explore the inherent absurdity of modern life. As frontman Franco Rossino says, “The album revolves around a confused and angry young person unknowingly being tossed around by the same western capitalist conditioning that we’ve all been raised on. Green in this sense refers to being a novice, as well as to money, envy, and growth. It’s meant to be somewhat of a self-aware exaggeration of some feelings in our every day lives that we often don’t want to admit to and may even lie to ourselves about.”

At times paranoid and other times exuberant, Seeing Green 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.

Dumb is Franco Rossino (guitar, vocals), Shelby Vredik (bass), Nick Short (guitar) and Pipé Morelli (drums).

Mint Records and CiTR 101.9FM have announced the 5th Volume of their compilation series and shared the first single, "Garnet Graves" from Devours via Exclaim!

CiTR's Pop Alliance Vol. 5 will be available April 13th, 2018

Mint Records has joined forces with CiTR 101.9FM and Discorder Magazine once again for the fifth volume of the now classic Pop Alliance Compilation series! The collection, 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, WeedApollo Ghosts and 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 ca. 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. Kicking off with a sincere piano-driven pop ballad from Chris-a-riffic, the first half of the LP continues in an angular route with Tough Customer’s “Secretly the Mayor” before descending gradually into the danceable art rock of Swim Team and the depths of post-punk dread in Passive’s “Vulture Halo.” The second half of the LP departs completely from the established Pop Alliance structure, bookended with two contemporary classical pieces from High Plains (feat. Scott Morgan of Loscil) and composer Peggy Lee, who wrote her piece “Landscape” exclusively for the compilation. The two middle tracks are frantic electronica from shitlord fuckerman and Devours.

 

 

Artwork for Vol. 5 was done by Andrea Lukic (Nu Sensae, Hick) and ties together an overall penchant for a left-field, avant-garde approach to the pop medium.

Pop Alliance Vol.5 will be released at a CiTR station fundraiser party in East Vancouver on Friday, April 13th at The Astoria. The event will feature performances by several of the artists appearing on the compilation including Swim Team, Tough Customer, Devours and Chris-a-riffic. You can find more info on Facebook here.

Toronto's Reluctant Punks Tough Age recently shared a new video for "Unclean" off their 2017 LP, Shame via Brooklyn Vegan along with new North Eastern US tour dates. The band picked Ottawa native Travis Boisvenue to direct the video. "I had no idea what to expect" Tough Age singer Jarrett Samson said to Brooklyn Vegan. "and (we) love the subversion of expectations in the framing, cutting & matching of this video — I think it works with and enhances the song so perfectly." 

In the two years since Tough Age’s sophomore LP, 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” EP, now followed by their long-awaited third album, Shame, which came out on Mint Records on October 20th, 2017. 

 

 

Tough Age on Tour:

March 21 - Ottawa, ON @ Black Squirrel Books

March 22 - Montreal, QC @ Brasserie Beaubien

March 23 - Winooski, VT @ Monkey House

March 24 - Northampton, MA @ The Basement

March 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Sound Hole

March 26 - Manhattan, NY @ Berlin*

March 29 - Princeton, NJ @ The Terrace Club*

March 30 - Kutztown, PA @ Spaghetti House*

March 31 - Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville

April 4 - Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha

* w/ Future Punx

Los Angeles Based Peach Kelli Pop Announce New EP and Share Video for First Single, "Crooked & Crazy" via What Youth

Which Witch available April 21st as a Special Record Store Day Release on limited edition coloured vinyl

Allie Hanlon’s "sunshine punk" 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. Today the band shared a video for the first single, "Crooked & Crazy", via What Youth who called the track "warm, bright, poppy, like your favorite flavor of zebra fruit stripe chewing gum."
 
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.”

Which Witch is akin to the Redd Kross’ Posh Boy EP - both have 6 songs, each close to a minute long. All 4 members of Peach Kelli Pop are outspoken Redd Kross fans; which comes as no surprise: the band is named after a Redd Kross song. Hanlon, originally a drummer (most notably from the White Wires), plays unadorned, archetypal punk drums, layers them with fuzzy, at times warbling guitars, elaborate basslines, and layers of fervent vocals.

On earlier material, Hanlon’s voice was passive, frequently inaudible and blanketed in reverb. Those days are gone; She now sings with confidence and clarity, demonstrating a refreshing assertiveness not seen before in her work. Which Witch holds the first glimpse of an evolution, a new stage in which Hanlon is finally no longer holding back.

 

 

Sea Wave advocate Kellarissa unveiled a new track today along with details of her record release shows. Her hometown release show in Vancouver will be held at the Red Gate Revue Stage where she will share the stage with an incredible line up of Vancouver's best experimental pop artists including Devours, Mourning Coup and a special solo set from Hello, Blue Roses.

Larissa Loyva first became entangled with Mint Records in 2005 with p:ano, her project with Nicholas Krgovich. Since then, Loyva 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”. Now, Kellarissa returns with Ocean Electro, (momentarily eschewing the Finnish language) to propose 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. 

 

 

Mint Records Presents:

Kellarissa - Ocean Electro Record Release Show!
https://kellarissa.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-electro-2

Devours
https://devours.bandcamp.com/

Hello, Blue Roses (solo)
https://helloblueroses.bandcamp.com/releases

Mourning Coup 
https://mourningcoupnosun.bandcamp.com/

$10 (+s/c) advance tickets available here:
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3334948

Sponsored by:
Music BC 
Creative BC
Let's Hear It BC

Catch Kellarissa Live:

February 22 - Vancouver - The Fox Cabaret

March 22 - Vancouver - Red Gate Revue Stage (Record Release Show)

March 23 - Victoria - Copper Owl

March 24 - Nanaimo - The Vault

Mint Records is thrilled to be working with Vancouver cold-punk band Lié on a cassette re-issue of their vital and ferocious debut 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.

Lié is is celebrating the re-issue with a party at the Black Lab in Vancouver on Friday, February 23rd. More info about that over at Facebook.

This re-issue comes on a gold cassette housed in a cardboard slipcase and is limited to 300 copies. It also comes with a download code for when you wear the tape out. 

 

 

Edmonton's Faith Healer share the new video for & Waiting today via The Fader& Waiting is taken from their acclaimed sophomore album Try;-). The duo are back on the road this March and April with dates across North America including an appearance at SXSW. Full tour details after the vid.

February 28 - Edmonton, AB - Rec Room
March 1 - Calgary, AB - Broken City
March 3 - Vancouver, BC - The Astoria
March 5 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
March 6 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
March 7 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
March 9 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theatre
March 10 - San Diego - Soda Bar
March 12 - March 18 Austin, TX - SXSW
March 20 - New Orleans, LA - Poor Boys
March 21 - Raleigh, NC - Neptunes
March 23 - Washington, DC - American University
March 24 - Philadelphia, PA - The Soundhole
March 25 - New York, NY - Elsewhere 
April 5 - Hamilton, ON - Casbah
April 7 - Indianapolis, IN - Pioneers
April 8 - Cincinnati, OH - MOTR
April 10 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
April 13 - Toronto, ON - Baby G
April 14 - Montreal, QC - Ritz PDB

Tough Age are kicking off 2018 with a batch of new tour dates down the West Coast of the US! Starting January 17th in Portland the band is hitting the road with upcoming stops in Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and more. Tough Age are also making one Canadian stop in Vancouver for a very special homecoming show at The Astoria!

In the two years since Tough Age’s sophomore LP, 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” EP, now followed by their long-awaited third album, Shame, which came out on Mint Records on October 20th, 2017. 

January 17 Portland - The Goo
January 18 Reno - Serva Pool Space at The Holland Project
January 24 Los Angeles - The Resident
January 26 Los Angeles - Top Space 2.0
January 27 Fullerton - Program Skate & Sound
January 28 San Diego - Soda Bar
January 29 Tempe - Sun Room
January 30 Las Vegas - Starboard Track
January 31 Oakland - Octopus Salon
February 2 Seattle - Victory Lounge
February 3 Vancouver - Astoria

 

Get a little peek into what we were listening to the Mint offices and tour vans in 2017! Listen to all this and more on our year end favourites playlist on Spotify

Woolworm

Giles’ faves from 2017:

10. Carla Del Forno - The Garden
9. Healer - Demo
8. Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti
7. Wares - Wares
6. Watchdog - 10 Track EP
5. Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens
4. Future - Hendrxx
3. Kelela - Take Me Apart
2. Trinity - Demo
1. Faith Healer - Try ;) ;) ;)

 

Supermoon

Supermoon's collective top 10 in no particular order:

 

Chastity Belt - I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone

Lt. Frank Dickens - Sour Bubblegum

Maneater - s/t

John Maus - Screen Memories

Lorde - Melodrama

Wares - s/t

Downtown Boys - Cost of Living

Sneaks - It's a Myth

Destroyer - Ken

Mob Bounce - I don't think they released a full album this year but they did participate in a lot of cool things including the Walking Together fest that we did with them, plus this New Constellations tour

 

Tough Age

Jarrett shares 15 records and 10 comics he liked in 2017:

 

Music of Inside the Snail’s Shell by Masahiro Takahashi

Teenager by Teenanger

Meditation Tape by Necking

Darlene Shrugg by Darlene Shrugg

This Trip by Petra Glynt

Raum by H. Takahashi

Soothsayer by Nick Ferrio

Crickets by Ora Cogan

Laughing at the System by Total Control

Courtneys II by The Courtneys

Watch out for the Bullies by Dad Jokes

Audible Songs from Rockwood by Fiver

A Stare Ajar by Whimm

City Sex Vol.1 by Mr. Merlot

Danke Freundlicher Zuhorer by Pankbend

Anti-Gone by Connor Willumsen

Sunday by O. Schrauwen

Helioscum2 by Juli Majer

Boundless by Jillian Tamaki

Leaving Richard’s Valley by Michael Deforge

Everywhere Disappeared by Patrick Kyle

I’m Not Here by GG

Delicious In Dungeon by Ryoko Kui

7050 by Masano Hirayama

 

Randy:

Mint's co-founder shares his favourite local bandcamp purchases from 2017:

 

Alimony - Demo
https://alimonyband.bandcamp.com/album/demo

Birthday Bitch - 26
https://birthdaybitch.bandcamp.com/album/26

Brutal Poodle - Long Time No See
https://brutalpoodlevan.bandcamp.com/album/long-time-no-see

Dad Thighs - The Ghosts I Fear
https://dadthighs.bandcamp.com/album/the-ghosts-that-i-fear

Maneater - Maneater
https://maneaterband.bandcamp.com/album/maneater

Necking - Meditation Tape
https://neckingband.bandcamp.com/album/meditation-tape

Only A Visitor - Lines
https://onlyavisitor.bandcamp.com/album/lines

Palm Oil - Palm Oil
https://palmoil.bandcamp.com/album/palm-oil

SBDC - Too Bad
https://sbdc.bandcamp.com/album/too-bad

Shrouded Amps - Come Along to Chocolate Church
https://shroudedamps.bandcamp.com/album/come-along-to-the-chocolate-church

The Trolls - Treasure Mountain EP
https://thatsthetrolls.bandcamp.com/album/treasure-mountain-ep

Uptights - Time + Space
https://uptights.bandcamp.com/album/time-space-2

 

Larissa Loyva has a long history with Mint beginning with the 2005 release from her project with Nik Krgovich, P:ano. Since then Loyva has had her hand in a boat load of projects including Fake Tears, The Choir Practice, How To Dress Well and has served as a touring member of Destroyer. Loyva is back in action as Kellarissa (which translates from Finnish to “in the basement”) for the release of her third album on Mint entitled Ocean Electro. The albums sweeping synths and ethereal vocals fit in with the spirit of fellow BC based new age/experimental pop artist such as White Poppy and Mourning Coup or synth pop revivalists like Molly Nilsson or Tropic of Cancer. The album was recorded in Vancouver, BC with Jay Arner and mastered by Josh Stevenson

Exclaim announced the album today and shared the debut single. “Ocean Electric” kicks off the album bursting with energy and adorned with icy synthesizers that sound straight out of a Berlin club playing obscure minimal wave singles.

Kellarissa will be performing as part of The Mint Records Ridiculously Early Xmas Party which is happening on December 2 at Vancouver's Astoria. You can get more details on the event here.

Tracklisting:

1. Ocean Electric
2. Black Sea
3. Too Drunk to Be Afraid
4. Ships in the Night
5. Mirabel
6. Poppies in July
7. Hey Hey Rosé
8. The Radio