Handheld Honour Canadian Comic Genius in Their "Leaving Candyland" Video

The song comes from 'A Canadian Tragedy,' their first album in 14 years

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jun 3, 2022

Canadian skate punks Handheld will kickflip back into action this month with their first album in 14 years, and ahead of delivering A Canadian Tragedy, the Ontario outfit have shared a tribute to one of this country's comedy legends in a new music video.

"Leaving Candyland" is a tribute to the late John Candy, and along with its loving lyrics, its accompanying visuals from director Erik O'Neill find Handheld bringing some of the actor and comedian's best-loved characters to life.

"We wanted to pay tribute to the great human that was John Candy and honour his life in a unique way," the band shared on Instagram. "We picked 6 of our all-time favourite John Candy roles: Barf from Spaceballs, Gus from Home Alone, Chet from The Great Outdoors, Del from Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Yosh of the Schmengie Brothers (SCTV) and Uncle Buck from you guessed it… Uncle Buck. Then ... we shot an homage to our favourite scenes, sprinkled in some punk rock flavourings and what you get is one hell of a good time. This video is definitely big in Sheboygan."

A Canadian Tragedy arrives June 14 via Thousand Islands Records, and is now available for pre-order.

The album follows Handheld's 2008 self-titled album, which Exclaim! called "short, to-the-point, poppy skate punk" which "has been refined to the purest form of the genre."


A Canadian Tragedy:

1. Double Double DUI
2. Leaving Candyland
3. On the Fly
4. Flip the Scrip 
5. School is in Session
6. Bend the Iron 
7. Group of Six 
8. Somewhere over Kentucky 
9. The Log Driver's Waltz 
10. Life of a Hitman
11. Coming Home

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