Hooded Fang has long been a favourite here at Tuesday Tracks, not because one of its members — Nick Hune-Brown — used to be an editor here at This Magazine (I’ve never met him), but because their music is just some of the most enjoyable ear candy one can find this side of virtually anywhere.

Because of that, and because I’d like to spend the next couple of weeks highlighting some my favourite acts performing at this year’s Canadian Music Week here in Toronto, I present “Laughing” off their new album, appropriately titled Album.

“Highway Steam” is often pointed to as the stand out track on an album full of standout tracks, but I’ve always been more drawn to “Laughing.” It’s just so…pleasant.

Normally, “pleasant” is kind of a weak word to use when referring to someone or something. It’s not one that comes across as particularly enthusiastic, but that’s not the case here. The song is just so sweet and lovely and well, pleasant, that you just can’t help but grin. It’s not a song to rip you out of your seat and send you to a dance floor, or to put on repeat as you cry into your pillow. It’s the song that, with its everything’s-gonna-be-alright vibe, just makes you smile with quiet serenity.

“Laughing” begins with a bright, cheery xylophone and is then quickly followed by this horn section that is both wonderfully hopeful and slightly melancholic. The contrast of the two sets the mood for a duet of vocals from Daniel Lee and Lorna Wright who sing to each about just being there for one and other—so, so, pleasant!

I first encountered Hooded Fang two years ago at Canadian Music Week. I knew nothing of them, but their name, taken from Mordecai Richler’s book Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang, had intrigued me. After listening to a handful of MP3’s their music intrigued me even more. It’s this astonishingly vibrant sound full of childlike enthusiasm that is impossible not to fall in love with. So listen to “Laughing” and catch them at Canadian Music Week on March 11, or on their upcoming Canadian tour supporting Rural Alberta Advantage.

The Meligrove Band. Photo illustration by Mat Dunlap.

This week’s collection of Tuesday Tracks celebrates some of the finest home grown sounds you’ll find anywhere online. Be it from rising stars, rock n’ roll royalty, or the relatively obscure, each of these songs demonstrates the true potential of pop music and is more evidence of the already stellar year for music 2010 has turned into.

While you’ll need to wait until September 21st to pick up their new album, Meligrove Band has already released the first single, “Halflight.” It’s a fine example of what they do best, combine enormous affecting sounds into catchy digestible fragments.

Next: There is little that needs to be said about Gord Downie. As the frontman for The Tragically Hip, he is a Canadian rock icon. His voice, lyrics and stage banter are all legendary. Certainly, the Hip’s influence has waned over the past decade, but what I find so wonderful and what I truly respect about Downie is that his artistic determination has not.

There is a reason the Hip’s remarkable success at home never quite materialized to the same degree elsewhere. Their songs, probably more than any other band, are uniquely Canadian. They are for and about Canada, and here on the aptly titled “The Hard Canadian”—the first single off his new solo effort The Grand Bounce, recorded with his backing band The Country of Miracles—Downie is still courting that same muse:

Finally, Hooded Fang. Their name is taken from the beloved Mordecai Richler childrens novel Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang and in a way, their sound perfectly reflects the beautiful, contemplative nature of the book. Hooded Fang (Full and totally awesome disclosure: keyboardist and bassist Nick Hune-Brown is a former arts editor of This Magazine) make music that is at once sweet, sad, joyous, and deceptively simple. Check out “Highway Steam” off their upcoming record: