Upcoming Releases

Toronto’s pop punk rock powerhouse The Mendozaz are back with “Late Stage 12 Gauge,” the first advance single from their upcoming eight-song concept EP The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada, out November 3 on Cartridge Heart. Like the rest of the record, the track takes aim at an entirely fabricated chapter of Canadian lore, in this case a web of imagined affairs, a dozen restraining orders, and one very ill-advised bromance cover-up.

A high-voltage burst of 90s-style pop-punk filtered through the band’s signature mix of humour and bite, “Late Stage 12 Gauge” blends galloping rhythms, snotty harmonies, and a chorus that lands like an inside joke you are instantly in on. Beneath the grin-inducing hooks, the lyrics spin a tale of paranoia, jealousy, and shotgun standoffs that feels just plausible enough to make you wonder if it really happened. “As any single guy will tell you, having platonic female friends is a bit of a minefield,” the band says. “Even the most well-meaning of us are going to have to deal with jealous significant others from time to time. The last thing you want is to set off the heat-packing husbands (and weapon-wielding wives) of the world. There’s a whole population of people who think ‘Netflix and Chill’ actually means ‘Netflix and Chill’ and they have no idea the toes they’re stepping on.”

Formed in 2017, The Mendozaz consist of Jonny (vocals/guitar), Michael (vocals/bass) and Dic (drums). They have carved out a reputation for relentless live shows and obnoxiously catchy songwriting. Their three previous albums (Two Days to Retirement, Up and At Them and Loafers) earned critical praise and steady campus radio play, while sharing stages with Dayglo Abortions, Chuck Coles and The Anti-Queens and making festival stops at Pouzza, NXNE and KW Long Weekend Band Crawl.

Described as “the sound of a Fat Wreck comp smashing violently into a copy of Big Shiny Tunes,” The Mendozaz channel the spirit of early Green Day and late 90s Fat Wreck alumni while avoiding the syrupy pitfalls that plagued pop-punk’s commercial boom. It is an approach that has drawn comparisons to The Weakerthans, PUP and The Dead Milkmen, bands that can make you laugh, think, and shout along in the same three minutes.

With The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada, The Mendozaz lean into their love of Canadian storytelling by making the stories up entirely, from murderous werewolves in London, Ontario to the sea captain who may have seduced Death herself. “Late Stage 12 Gauge” is just the first taste, a wink, a wallop, and a reminder that in punk rock, history is always written by the loudest.

The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada tracklist:

1. Fuck You: The Musical!
2. A Piercing Shriek of Death
3. An American Werewolf In London, Ontario
4. Kokanee Joe
5. Late Stage 12 Gauge
6. Inverted
7. The Bell Tower Killer
8. The Unlikely Legend of Captain Fuchs