This Is the Ice Age

Untitled

This is the Ice Age was Martha and the Muffins' third album, released on LP and cassette in 1981. The track "Women Around the World at Work" was released as a single in the UK and Canada.

The album was a debut for Daniel Lanois as a rock music producer; he would later be discovered by Brian Eno and produce for artists as diverse as U2, Bob Dylan, and Dashboard Confessional.

The cover image was taken by Muffins' guitarist Mark Gane from an apartment he was living in on Bloor Street in Toronto. It depicts the Bank of Montreal tower over a building in poor repair.

After being unavailable for over 20 years, this much sought after album was finally re-released on CD in 2005 by EMI Canada and includes two bonus tracks that were not on the original release. The CD has been released with copy protection technology which may make it difficult to play in some players or rip for use on MP3 players.

The working title for this album was The Big Merge.

Track listing

1. "Swimming" – 3:54
2. "Women Around the World at Work" – 3:59
3. "Casualties of Glass" – 5:17
4. "Boy Without Filters" – 4:58
5. "Jets Seem Slower in London Skies" – 2:36
6. "This is the Ice Age" – 7:34
7. "One Day in Paris" – 4:20
8. "You Sold the Cottage" – 4:01
9. "Three Hundred Years/Chemistry" – 7:09
10. "I'm No Good At Conversation" – 3:43 [bonus track]
11. "Twenty-two in Cincinnati" – 4:16 [bonus track]

"I'm No Good At Conversation" was the B-side of the "Several Styles of Blonde Girls Dancing" single from Danseparc.

"Twenty-two in Cincinnati" was the B-side of the "Women Around the World at Work" single.