Kiwi Jr.

Cooler Returns

You’ll end up dizzied by the sheer amount of hooks that take up every second of Cooler Returns.

Sustaining momentum near-faultlessly across 13 songs and 37 minutes, Cooler Returns proves Kiwi Jr have the skills to match their smarts.

Golden hooks appear once and are never repeated, arrangements avoid predictable verse-chorus structures, and lyric sheets are packed with hyper-specific references and quirky non sequiturs.

If ‘Football Money’ was a full-hearted paean to the likes of Pavement and Archers of Loaf, then ‘Cooler Returns’ is the sound of Kiwi Jr moving forwards, planting their own flag in the power-pop ground.

The sophomore semester moves with a little more intention and nuance than the freshman year did, but the year-end celebration is no less of a blast.

Packed full of infectious riffs and jangle pop goodness, they manage to finesse the breezy indie-rock of their debut without losing any of their ramshackle charm.

‘Cooler Returns’ displays a keen eye for observation – both grand and quaint – as its myriad of tracks cohere together through a bond of musical influences old and new to form an album that’s invitingly optimistic, while also displaying intricacy and craftiness in abundance.

The Toronto band’s accomplished second album stands out from the usual run of DIY indie.

Flourishes of organ, piano and harmonica fill out their sound, but those jangly guitars have lost none of their ramshackle charm.

Cooler Returns plays out best if you go with its flow. Musical flourishes, references, and inspirations abound, but if you let yourself get lost in it, there is a lot to enjoy and not too much to worry about.

On their second album and first for Sub Pop, the Canadian indie rock group pairs shaggy guitars with sardonic observations.

My worry is that in the long run they may become a one trick pony and if Kiwi Jr. continue to cling too close to Football Money, their appeal will begin to wilt and they will find themselves alone and dejected, like an now overweight jock in the basement clinging to their memories and a now tarnished high school trophy.

This second round of easy-going quasi-punk doesn’t reach the highs of Football Money, but it does show a dedicated band churning out steadfast rock.

There are certainly some interesting tracks on this follow-up record, but unfortunately, the cohesiveness isn't there; be it within each song's structure, or across the whole record's thematic grounding, there's never enough put into a singular idea to really make an impact.