Albums of the Year # 55 Kiwi Jr. - Cooler Returns

 

 

A Shady Lane. Everybody wants one. New Sub Pop signings Toronto's Kiwi Jr. for sure. Their debts to Pavement and Stephen Malkmus are so entirely obvious, glaring and fundamental that it really has to be foregrounded from the off, before even mentioning, never mind discussing their second album Cooler Returns.'

But wait, because there's more to say. First and foremost Kiwi Jr. are far from the only alternative guitar band around these days that owe a considerable amount, perhaps their very existence to those well schooled, well fed indie chancers who gagged at their big shot at the mainstream by deliberately making a goofy video for Cut Your Hair when genuine rather than 'Cool' marginal stardum beckoned. back in the early Nineties.

Nevertheless, Pavenment's legacy remains huge. Ask Parquet Courts. Ask Nap Eyes. Ask any number of slacker early Twenty Somethings who choose to eschew the obvious melodic pop action plan and wander off into the trees like a non-placing Whacky Races contestant. Kiwi Jr. are merely the latest contenders.

And they're most definitely contenders. This is a darned good record. It should also be remembered very early on that Pavement most definitely did not invent this particular wheel, although they've come to define it more and more in some respects since the millenium.

So here comes, a list of progenitors for the alternative world of pop wonder that Kiwi Jr. draw on. This really started with The Velvet Underground. Then Jonathan and his Modern Lovers, early Television, Subway Sect, Buzzcocks, Orange Juice, The Go Betweens, The Clean and all those fabulous, fabulous Flying Nun bands. If you like I could make you a playlist but you'reprobably  best directed to Twee by Marc Spitz which pretty much definitely catalogued and itemised this approach.

Kiwi Jr understand this school of thought from top to bottom, inside out. They add their own entry to this alternative encyclopedia with Cooler Returns and like Fonzie it is cool, though those who are not prone to this kind of thing will probably not understand. The record never lets up. One song after another takes the self same route. The same but different.

Listen to this if you like the bands I've mentioned. Listen to it even if you don't. You'll understand immediately where I'm coming from. You'll hear Pavement, but also Loaded suss and strum, the guitar solo in Boredom, echoes of Blue Boy, Anything Could Happen and any number of wonderful bits from other alternative universe pop hits. But it's not stealing. It's all used and utilised with the best possible intentions. And most importantly it works...

Everyone gets to be young at least once. Kiwi Jr. are grabbing this particular chance in life by the collar and squeezing every inch of joy out of their opportunity. This is a wonderful, joyous record and I love it to bits. Same as it ever was. If a thing ain't broken, there's no need to fix it. Just understand its essence, what makes it tick, and do it for yourself.