Take a refreshing dip into Mundy's Bay. You have more than earned it.

Photo by Véronique Lévesque

Mundy's Bay released their debut full-length album on March 13, 2020, so if their name doesn't ring a bell, that's understandable. There was a lot going on that weekend.

Luckily for you (and very luckily for me) I listened to the album earlier this year, then slotted it in the category of "revisit to see how it stands up later this year" a.k.a. the list I pull most of my "best of" albums from at year's end after listening to all of them again. But there's no reason to wait one second more if you haven't heard this yet.

The Canadian quartet traffics in a mixture of indie-pop and dance-rock to craft a bubbly blend of absolute good time jams. Their bio mentions they come from the punk and hardcore scenes of the rough and tumble North, which tracks. I mean, even Sloan's members were in hardcore bands at one time, but there's something about the Canadian air that just triggers melodic rock and/or pop explosions to erupt in the midst of any songwriting session. They simply can't help it, much to our benefit.

Another reason to listen to this? It was released on March 13 of this year, which means it's an artifact from a different time, despite being a recent release. Thank god it's an artifact of all the positive things that went into its development, and not a reflection of a world threatening to tumble into a new Dark Ages. 

Lonesome Valley may be come off as an intimidating title for Mundy's Bay's debut LP, but for me the album has been a long drink of incredibly rejuvenating fresh water, courtesy our Canadian neighbors.