KIWI JR. - Blowin’ Up

Finding the perfect balance between a devotion to Nineties indie-rock and the freshness of contemporary pop is no small challenge, but Kiwi Jr. seem to have hit on just the right alchemy.
With their new studio effort, the Canadian band pulls off a coming-of-age move, proving you can mature without losing the urgency and energy of your early days.
Across three albums, the Toronto outfit have already shown they have what it takes to hold their own against all the influences they've been compared to in the past (Pavement, Go-Betweens, Feelies, Jonathan Richman), but with their fourth album “Blowin’ Up” they stake a claim on an even more interesting future thanks to a collective vision that opens the door to some intriguing outside collaborations.

Jeremy Gaudet's sharp, clever and visionary lyrics once again find fertile ground in the lively blend of jangle-pop, pop-punk and indie-rock that has served the band so well on previous records. The winning choice here is the return to a guitar-oriented formula, with Brian Murphy calling the shots with his usual class; a style the band had briefly set aside on the less incisive “Chopper”, which had opened the door to electronics.
The recordings were overseen with the help of Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck, and there's no shortage of choice cameos, including Joe Casey and Greg Ahee of Protomartyr on the closing track “Landscape With Limousine”.

“Blowin’ Up” is a record that thrives not only on great melodic instincts but also on small imperfections smoothed over by a string of refrains and guitar riffs. The faintly melancholic mood set by a vintage keyboard on “World Like Polly”, the naive spirituality of “New Jade Rabbit” and the delicate guitar textures of “Caught In The Wild” are the clever detours on a record otherwise marked by urgent, whirling energy. The tight rhythm duelling with the organ on “Pure Michigan”, the biting rock exuberance of “Hard Drive, Ontario”, and the cascade of jangle-pop chords on “Photos Of The Reenactment” are without a doubt among the most refreshing and engaging songs you'll hear this year.

Kiwi Jr. once again prove themselves writers of catchy songs that are anything but disposable, ready to push past predictability with a jolt of energy (“Landscape With Limousine” and the title track) that lets everything flow with impressive ease. “Blowin’ Up” is the sound of a band growing up and coming into its own: there's no ignoring them any longer, so treat yourself to forty minutes of pure energy.

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04/10/2026