Joe Pernice (Pernice Brothers), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and Mike Belitsky (The Sadies) delived their debut long-player Into The Lime as The New Mendicants on January 28th 2014 on Ashmont Records. The album is available on vinyl in North America on the band’s own XPT Records.  Download Into The Lime’s “If You Only Knew Her” here. 

The New Mendicants got their start in Joe Pernice’s kitchen. In the wake of a recent relocation to Toronto, Norman Blake was re-introduced to his new neighbour Pernice through mutual acquaintance (and Pernice Brothers drummer) Patrick Berkery, who had met Blake during a recording project in Norway. A friendship and musical partnership formed. Says Pernice: “…he said we should start a band together called The Mendicants. Well, I had literally one day earlier recorded a song called “The Mendicant” for the upcoming Scud Mountain Boys record. May God smite me if this is not the truth. I sent Norman the demo, and he wrote back: ‘It’s fate’…. Within minutes of hanging out in my kitchen we were booking recording dates.”

The pair made their live debut with low-key public performances in a Toronto tavern, marked by plenty of wisecracking banter, open tunings and  pop smarts — the latter of which are, along with long-established songwriting chops, on full display in their debut release.

Featuring nine original nuggets of effervescent Hollies-style guitar pop laced with Simon and Garfunkel-esque vocal interplay, and a version of Sandy Denny’s “By The Time It Gets Dark”, Into the Lime is served up with a side of lyrical humour and a delicious sprinkle of darkness.

All songs written by Joe Pernice, Norman Blake and Mike Belitsky (except “By the Time It Gets Dark,” written by Sandy Denny). Recorded and mixed at Spaghetti in Kitchener, Ontario by Norman Blake with Joe Pernice and Mike Belitsky. Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering in Boston, MA.

Into The Lime Tracklisting:

1. Sarasota
2. A Very Sorry Christmas
3. Cruel Annette
4. Follow You Down
5. Shouting Match
6. If You Only Knew Her
7. High On The Skyline
8. By the Time It Gets Dark
9. Out of the Lime
10. Lifelike Hair