It pains me to admit that Kiwi Jr. are good. It's not that the style is outside my wheelhouse -- far from it! -- but that the band is Canadian. I've long said that there aren't very many good Canadian bands. Maybe I listened to too many Rush records as a teenager? Maybe I had too many press guys push Blue Rodeo records on me when I worked in college record stores? I don't know but I've got a decided aversion to bands from north of the border.
Still, Blowin' Up is really, really good. And Kiwi Jr. know exactly now to navigate a sort of clever indie-rock. "Photos of the Reenactment" is Shins-y in a good way, while the title cut sounds a tiny bit like Hoodoo Gurus trying to figure out the chord changes in a very early Feelies single. It's bright and catchy and really hard not to love. While the too long "Caught in the Wild" is a little Fountains of Wayne-ish, the yearning "Hard Drive Ontario" is muddied by Weezer-worthy keyboards which distract from the emotions of the tune. "Pure Michigan" is a tighter riff-rocker and the sort of thing fans of this band will surely love.
Blowin' Up works best when it sounds as if Kiwi Jr. are not overthinking things too much. A few tracks briefly overstay their welcome, and a few others feel over produced, but those are minor points. The majority of this record is fun stuff, and the sort of alt-rock that would have rule alternative radio if there was justice in this world.
Blowin' Up by Kiwi Jr. is out today. Details below.
[Photo: Uncredited Bandcamp photo]