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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-realized ode to female desire, regret, shame, self-compassion, and cautious healing. 

To accompany the announcement of her forthcoming record, she shares a music video for the title track: a mysterious music video about obsession, perception and desire. Watch it here.

Kellarissa (Finnish for “in the basement”) is the solo moniker of experimental pop artist Larissa Loyva, whose two-decade-long output 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 mastered by Ryan Morey (Daniel Romano, Yves Jarvis). The result is a saturated sonic tableau of cinematic synths and soaring crystalline vocals, artfully produced pop music that can be placed with the likes of Perfume Genius as well as more idiosyncratic producers like Laurel Halo.

Voice Leading is Kellarissa’s most conceptual record yet, situating listeners in an enigmatic hall of possibility. References to Anne Garréta’s 1986 Oulipan nightclub novel Sphinx are woven throughout the album. On “Bad Influence” and “After Hours,” cerebral pop turns are inflected with the savvy dance energy of nineties iconoclasts like Björk and Pulp. Synth-driven title track (and lead single) “Voice Leading” flirts with affairs of the mind and the agony of not knowing. There’s a scenario Kellarissa can’t quite put her finger on in “Anemoia,” where déjà vu is veiled by anxiety and dread: “I’m feeling a nostalgia for a place I’ve never been.”

Creating this record was Kellarissa’s antidote for challenging times. With Voice Leading, she is able to take the infinite depth and formlessness of the club and give it edges, corners: a pulsating shape that plumbs the dark spaces hollowed out by yearning, restraint, and despair in an attempt to crack the enigma and let in the light.

RIYL: Perfume Genius, Kate Bush, Björk, Laurel Halo, Nite Jewel

Track Listing
A1. Exposition
A2. Desire Path
A3. Anemoia
A4. Voice Leading
A5. Bad Influence

B6. Sphinx
B7. To The Wind At Morn
B8. Dread
B9. Tempting Fate
B10. After Hours
Bonus track for CD & Digital: 11. Fantasy Impromptu (Instrumental)

Pre-order Voice Leading on the Mint web store and Bandcamp until the release date: April 1, 2022. 

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 by The Pack a.d. on “haunted” glow-in-the-dark vinyl with a foil cover. 

This limited 10th anniversary reissue of Unpersons 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 you 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 Pack a.d.’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 Unpersons. 

10 years later, singles from Unpersons are still some of The Pack a.d.'s most recognizable and beloved, including fan favourites “Sirens” and “Haunt You”.

Long live The Pack a.d.!

“The riffs are raw and raunchy, the drums hit like a punch to the gut, and the no-bullshit production highlights the two-piece’s primal power.” 

- Alex Hudson, The Tyee 

“The Pack is not just another garage-blues duo, it’s one of the best, it’s pushing that loose sound in its own direction. It’s a feat to make hard-driving rock feel desolate, simultaneously woodsy and industrial.”

- Mike Ostrov, Nine Bullets

Pre-order this special reissue of Unpersons, which arrives February 4. 

Season's Greetings! The time has come for the Mint Records Ridiculously Early Holiday Party!

The night will feature live performances by Tough Age, Energy Slime, Kellarissa, and Kamikaze Nurse. We'll have special guests from New Moon Comedy, and performance videos by Sook-Yin Lee, Wares, and Dumb!

Where: Red Gate (1965 Main Street) and Online (Streaming link will be provided)

When: Saturday, November 27, 2021

Doors at 7:30pm, Show at 8:00pm

Tickets: $10 pre-sale on Eventbrite or PWYC at door (Suggested $15). If you are not a Red Gate member, you'll have to buy a PWYC membership at the door. Get your tickets here.

Venue info: In order to abide by the provincial health orders in place for “Phase 3” the Red Gate will be operating under the following conditions until further notice:

1. Capacity is set to 120, not including staff or performers.
2. All events will have seating. If attendees wish to remove their mask while they watch the acts they must remain seated. (You may remain standing if you wear a mask.)
3. Masks will be mandatory when not seated or outside in the smoking area.
4. All events will be open to Red Gate members only. A membership can be purchased at the door for $10 (PWYC) and supplying your email address and vaccine immunization record.

We ask that only people who are fully vaccinated attend our events. We also ask that if people are feeling symptomatic that they stay home.

If you can't attend in-person, but still want to support your favourite bands, you can get a PWYC online ticket to stream the show from home.

Fundraiser: The funds raised from online and in-person ticket sales for this event will be matched by Mint Records and donated to the Urban Native Youth Association, whose work supports Indigenous youth leadership by providing a diverse continuum of advocacy, preventative and support services that respond to their immediate and long-term needs.

Show poster design: Nada Hayek @sloppyjohannson

Are you hungry? Mint Records is dishing out our tastiest single since cub’s Hot Dog Day! In collaboration with notorious Vancouver comic artist Cole Pauls and Conundrum Press, we’ve got a 2 for 1 deal lined up that will make your mouth water! To celebrate Cole’s new comic collection, Pizza Punks, we’ve rounded up the savory sounds of two of Vancouver’s deluxe punk combos, Dumb and Tough Age!

Dumb delivers “Pizza Slice,” a piping hot pie of chopped chords drizzled with their secret sauce of jittery verse and tangy feedback that will melt your mozza and your face. Best served on a Saturday night with your best pals but also life saving the next morning when you wake up late and need something to get you moving!

Tough Age takes you out for a date night to a classy Italian place with checkered tablecloths and a candle stuck in an empty wine bottle. They serve up “Giuseppe Pizzeria” and it’s a refreshingly authentic taste of the band's time tested recipe of fresh jangle and creamy vocals, all served on a crisp and swaggering crust. 

Both tracks are presented on a personal sized 7 inch platter pressed on melted mozza yellow vinyl and is available at your finest local licorice pizza parlour or delivered to your door via Mint Records. 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. Pre-order is now up and running on mintrecs.com and bandcamp and out everywhere on July 9, 2021.

Cole Pauls is a Tahltan comic artist, illustrator and printmaker hailing from Haines Junction (Yukon Territory) with a BFA in Illustration from Emily Carr University. Residing in Vancouver, Pauls focuses on his two comic series, the first being Pizza Punks: a self contained comic strip about punks eating pizza, the other being Dakwäkãda Warriors. In 2017, Pauls won Broken Pencil Magazine’s Best Comic and Best Zine of the Year Award for Dakwäkãda Warriors II. In 2020, Dakwäkãda Warriors won Best Work in an Indigenous Language from the Indigenous Voices Awards and was nominated for the Doug Wright Award categories, The Egghead & The Nipper.

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 Adam passed away in 2019, his work with Sook-Yin lives on with jooj two, an unapologetic dive into playful art-pop and a document of a lost language between lovers. The album will arrive on April 9 via Mint Records. 

(TW: Suicide) While financial difficulties and external pressures contributed to the end of their romantic relationship, Sook-Yin and Adam remained best friends and creative partners. As he was busy with a soundtrack for Netflix, Adam gave Sook-Yin his blessing to continue working on their second album without him. Increasingly, Adam struggled with anxiety and depression, compounded by a prescription drug dependency that exacerbated insomnia and pain. Tragically, he died by suicide on June 16, 2019. 

Adam’s passing was a profound loss for Sook-Yin and so many who loved him. Sook-Yin saw pieces of Adam’s 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) Sook-Yin completed the album and will share it with the world this spring.

Despite the circumstances surrounding its completion, jooj two is a celebration of life, especially Adam’s. Playful experimentalism drives the pair’s life-long love of pop music and taps into moments from across the genre’s vast history from the warm psychedelic sunshine of “Rumble Like a Stranger” to the neon lit autobahn of “Run Away of Her” and the buzzing euphoria of “Re-Veil.” 

There is intentionality and inherent uniqueness to their songwriting approach that first took shape by Sook-Yin responding to a musical phrase with vocal melodies and stream of consciousness lyrics. Those experiments were transcribed and delightfully interpreted by Adam then returned to Sook-Yin for finessing. The resulting wordplay across 11 enigmatic and accessible tracks evokes the feeling of a new language being born.

jooj two is a fitting collaboration to cap off a lifetime of work together.

“... a one woman media arts convergence. One of those truly original people our culture spits out once every generation or so.”
  -THE GLOBE AND MAIL 

Their new album, Which Way Am I?, is out August 7, 2020 on Mint Records

One of Mint's longest running acts, Tough Age, are back today with the announcement of their 4th album, Which Way Am I?, a great indie rock record inspired by the DIY adventurism of 80's underground labels like Flying Nun and Rough Trade. The band premiered the album's first single today via FLOOD Magazine on which bassist Penny Clark channels Cate Le Bon before the song takes on a meditative motorik coda. 

Listen to "Repose"

Tough Age continue to change shape on their new 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. Cultivating the collaborative approach of their last LP, 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.

Pre-Order Which Way Am I Here

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. 

Pre-Save Which Way Am I? on Spotify and Apple Music

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, to the point of Clark teasing Samson’s obsession with being signed to Flying Nun on the ripping “Penny Current Suppression Ring.” Yet Tough Age also introduce new colours into their musical palette, such as the hooky Television Personalities punk of “My Life’s A Joke & I’m Throwing It Away” or “Possession” featuring Claire Paquet on flute, nodding to the twee-pop of Look Blue Go Purple and pastoral textures of early King Crimson.

Wares new album, Survival, is out April 24, 2020 on Mint Records

After being on Mint's radar for the past couple of years based on the strength of their fierce live show and their moving 2017 self-titled album, we're excited to be working with the Edmonton band on the release of a new record. Today, Wares announced the LP, Survival, with the launch of the album's powerful first single. According to Wares' singer and guitarist, Cassia Hardy, "Surrender into Waiting Arms" "is a song about consent and safe sex. After years of hard work processing trauma and thawing from self isolation, it’s the profound joy of building complete trust in your partner, and in a relationship built on respect and good communication. ‘Survival’ is the story of recovery as a non linear path of healing and disruption. The narrator in this song, at the midpoint of the album, finds freedom in safe, sane, and consensual love." 

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.”

Previous Wares releases have flickered with a slow burn, yet Survival lights the fuse from ominous to explosive in its first 60 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 comparisons to Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, but she draws more inspiration from Arthur Russell and cult Albertan queer-punk group Fist City. Her sonic imagination travels far beyond overdriven shredding, from the swooning acoustic guitars of “Jenny Says” to the Hold Steady-style organ-rock of “Surface World.” The result is 2020’s answer to Against Me!’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues or G.L.O.S.S.’s Trans Day of Revenge with a far wider musical range.

The pain and passion in Hardy’s voice is unmistakable as it becomes clear these songs are literally about life and death. The feverish riffs of “Hands, Skin” open the album with her account of an assault, before the elegantly swaying sound of “Tall Girl” describes Hardy’s isolation from a kindred spirit in its powerfully plainspoken refrain: “I regret not getting to know you better.”

By the end of its first side, “Surrender into Waiting Arms” finds the singer gaining enough confidence to open herself up to the world in a triumphant emo anthem. Yet by side two’s “Complete Control” she has returned to a withdrawn state in the hopes that someone can drag her out, culminating in one of the album’s most powerful organ-drenched passages. “There are ups and downs,” Hardy explains. “It’s not like ‘I went to therapy and now I’m 100% great.’”

In a society that turns its back or attacks those not recognized as one of their own, outsiders are forced to band together. This desire for connection is reinforced in Hardy’s lyrical references to human bodies: “undisciplined” or “hardened” skin, tense muscles, aching shoulders, and unwashed clothes run bringing listeners into vivid intimacy. By the time we reach the album closing title-track, she admits just how hard life can be, unleashing her agony in raw-throated shouts. “It’s a brutal business and it lays you low / like a condom wrapper on a service road.” Yet Hardy stays alive to fight another day for the people out there who might need her most.

“The songs on this album are really personal to my journey,” she concludes. “The worlds inside it are about carving out an identity and learning acceptance so you can join a community for a better world. Finding people and opening your heart to companionship, love, and vulnerability is the real deal. I just want to reach people wherever I can.”

Vancouver's lié Share Bizarre Video For Albums First Single "Digging in the Desert" 

Their fourth album, You Want It Real, is out February 28th, 2020 on Mint Records

Today, lié announced their new LP, You Want It Real, with the launch of a video for the first single. "Digging in the Desert" is a spiky and blistering post-punk track highlighted by surreal lyrics and an equally bizarre video by Vancouver director Justin Gradin (known for his strange videos for White Lung and Black Mountain). The song pairs heavy bass and skull-searing guitars as bassist and vocalist Brittany West guides us through the sandy moonscapes of New Mexico — a setting she’s picked to explore what she describes as “hedonistic feelings and being eaten alive by the hardships of love playing out in a fever dream in my mind."

Watch "Digging in the Desert" Here: https://youtu.be/sUjrU9sYEQA

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 LP to be released on February 28, 2020 via Mint Records.

You Want It Real, the band’s fourth album, expands on previous themes with an assured intensity and plenty of world-weary lyrics. Sonically, lié’s recordings have unleashed 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.

Pre-order You Want It Real Here: https://www.mintrecs.com/store/you-want-it-real

Limited to 300 copies on yellow vinyl!

Vancouver's Woolworm Share New Albums First Single "Hold the Bow" Via Indie88

Their third album, Awe, is out November 8th, 2019 on Mint Records

Today, Woolworm announced their third LP, Awe, with the launch of the first single via Indie88. "Hold The Bow" is an urgent and uptempo track sprinkled with jangle and backed by heavy drumming. The song was inspired by Marina Abramović's performance art piece Rest Energy, says frontman Giles Roy. “The image of two people leaning back opposite each other, one holding a bow and the other holding an arrow pointed at their heart. Like the piece itself, the song is about complete trust. It's also a sort of love song, but not possessive, romantic love. It's more about unconditional love.”

Listen now:

Pre-order the LP now and receive limited edition white vinyl!
https://www.mintrecs.com/store/awe

Vancouver's Necking Sign to Mint!

We're putting out their debut album, Cut You Teeth, on July 5th, 2019

Check out their first single, Big Mouth, now!

Mint Records is thrilled to announce the debut album, Cut Your Teeth, from one of Vancouver's most exciting new bands, Necking. The band has earned a reputation for their energetic and fun live shows in the city after playing almost every weekend for a year.

Today, Necking shared the ferocious first single, "Big Mouth," from their new record via Exclaim. Drummer and lyricist, Melissa Kuipers, reveal the inspiration for the track; "Big Mouth is the dollar store version of “Our Lips are Sealed” by the Go-Go’s covered by Hilary and Hailey Duff. It’s about having a mediocre time with someone and them leaving convinced you’re obsessed with them. This song is the brave face you put on after you’ve overshared and overstayed your welcome."

Cut Your Teeth is about finding independence after being stuck in a cycle of codependence. It’s about being fixated on the wrong thing and figuring out how to pay attention to yourself instead. The songs are about loss, getting too involved with your boss and living in a studio apartment. At its core, Cut Your Teeth is about trying to navigate relationships of all kinds - romantic, friendly, professional - and fucking up a lot, but making it work. The album is loud, angry, funny, and deals with our everyday experiences. It’s about being bummed, but in a fun and sexy way!