Search - Various Artists :: Team Mint, Vol. 2

There isn't a defined style to quirky Vancouver indie label Mint. The imprint got its start with the cutesy pop of Cub and the instrumental twang of Huevos Rancheros and then made it big with the noir-twang of Neko Case, but if this low-priced sampler proves anything, it's that you can still make a go of releasing a variety of different sounds independently. Huevos and Case both appear here--Case on her own as well as crooning with the extravagant pop combo New Pornographers. The other tracks skip from the snotty punk-pop of New Town Animals and the Smugglers to the modish pop of Duotang, the vocal harmonies of the Corn Sisters and the explosive thrash of the Evaporators. Team Mint Volume 2! is predictably uneven, and the lack of new or unreleased material seems a bit cheap, but as a snapshot of one label's contribution to Canadian independent music, it's gold. --Matt Galloway