#kiwi jr

[sinceileftyoublog]

GBV 40

Photo by Allison Ryder

BY JORDAN MAINZER

It's a popular wink-wink-nod-nod joke among the diehard Guided By Voices fanbase that dedicated GBV fandom is #notacult (but kind of a cult). You'd think that Robert Pollard and company were in on the joke, considering they decided to celebrate 40 years of the band's existence at a venue built by a 14-group Masonic Temple Association, which is a true story and not the name of the band's new single. As a full disclosure converted GBV head who has in the past attended Heedfest, the band's long-running fan weekend chock full of cover sets and Miller Lites, this first weekend in September absolutely felt like an extension of it, a full-on celebration of all things Guided By Voices. Celebrity superfan Paddy Considine came from overseas with his son Joe, playing a covers set at the Yellow Cab Tavern in Dayton's Oregon District. During the encore of GBV's first night at the Dayton Masonic Center, Scott Marshall (of Chavez fame), Matador Records Director of Digital, A&R Jake Whitener, and GBV manager David Newgarden presented Pollard with a "Most Valuable Lead Singer" trophy. Even Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, normally reserved, gave the crowd a half-hearted "G! B! V!" chant during the band's opening set. Miller Lites at the venue (along with most other beer) cost a measly $6 per can, a bargain in 2023. During the second night, Pollard took a moment to thank the alcohol distributor, who may or may not have been stocking his personal cooler full of beer bottles and the once-again passed around Jose Cuervo. What's for sure is those bottles were fueling Pollard's high-kicks, 2022 busted knee be damned. Always different, always the same: It was The Fall. Is it now Guided By Voices?

Photo by Allison Ryder

Yes, the same spirit pervades GBV: In a recent beginner's guide to the band, Uproxx critic Steven Hyden described them as having "one foot in the bowling alley, and another foot in the art gallery," whether that's the band's early R.E.M.-indebted material, lo-fi golden era, Aughts arena rock attempts, or the current, arguably most prolific late-career lineup. The quartet of guitarists Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr., bassist Mark Shue, and drummer Kevin March is certainly the most formidable group of instrumentalists to ever back Pollard, and his songwriting on this lineup's albums has notably embraced the proggier, more epic side of his forebears. During the band's anniversary concerts, they paid curatorial attention to these newfound favorites just as much as the "Motor Away" and "Tractor Rape Chain"s: the tempo-changing "Alex Bell", bopping "Dance of Gurus", and even absurdist poem "Razor Bug", delivered a capella by Pollard and Shue. Pollard also admitted how the band tackles the old imperfections, joking that March made sure to play all the original studio version "fuck-ups" from "My Impression Now".

But GBV also had work to do. This year so far, they've released two albums, La La Land and live-to-tape gem Welshpool Frillies, and purportedly (shocker) have two more in the can. Only this band could garner this much crowd enthusiasm by opening a four-decade celebration with the first three songs from their latest album, but when they're as good as the jagged "Meet the Star", cascading "Cruisers' Cross", and Cheap Trick-meets-Crazy Horse ripper "Romeo Surgeon", it doesn't really matter, does it? The sets in general were treated like a normal GBV marathon, featuring but not overwhelmingly dominated by their most recent output. Gillard's trademark guitars chimed through the sludgy "Seedling", while La La Land's "Queen of Spaces" offered a necessarily languid breather between "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)" and "Motor Away". To my pleasure, on night two, the band played La La Land closer "Pockets", a song about exactly what you think, that nonetheless exemplifies Pollard's ethos: As long as you have a sense of wonder and a penchant for songwriting, you can maintain constant creativity. Songwriting can be a daily exercise.

Built to Spill

Throughout the celebration, Pollard expressed thanks for past and present incarnations of GBV (joking that the current youngins help him up the stairs) as well as the other bands joining the celebration. The inspired lineup was a mix of 90's contemporaries (Dinosaur Jr,, Built to Spill), Dayton connections (the birthplace of Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom and Dino J.'s Lou Barlow), and new indie rock royalty (Kiwi Jr., Wednesday). Dinosaur Jr., Marshalls stacked upon Marshalls, treated the crowd to eternity-long fuzz jams heavy on their earliest albums, from "Gargoyle" and their faithful "Just Like Heaven" cover to "The Lung" and "Freak Scene". The next night, Built to Spill also offered a set with plenty of guitar solos and extended intros and codas, respectively bookending the set on the slow-burning "Stop The Show" and eternal "Carry The Zero". As for their (sort-of) cover, they chose The Halo Benders' "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain" and not Heartless Bastards' "The Mountain" since, well, the real thing had played right before them.

Heartless Bastards

Heartless Bastards are not a band you'd normally associate with 90's indie rock, though I wouldn't have expected Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford to sing Wennerstrom's part so convincingly last time I saw BTS. Wennestrom and Martsch came out with Heartless Bastards on night two for "The Mountain", but I saw where the Texas-via-Ohio rockers fit in with the band lineup even more on other songs. Yes, their brand of blues-rock is unique, not quite punchy, certainly eschewing raw psychedelia for grooves or high and lonesome country. But while Wennerstrom's throaty singing led the hazy "Photograph", the song's instrumental outro with gorgeous guitar work snuggled beside Wednesday and Built to Spill. And the chugging back catalog highlight "Gray" came across almost like a GBV ripper with keyboards.

Kiwi Jr.

Wednesday

And then there were the up and comers. Toronto's Kiwi Jr. combined the instrumental concision of GBV with the storytelling of a band like Wednesday. They took from their three very good records, concentrating on their Sub Pop albums Cooler Returns and Chopper in their brief set, contextualizing "Maid Marian's Toast" and "The Sound of Music" (about insurance fraud and Christopher Plummer), easing the crowd into a night of clatter. Wednesday, meanwhile, was the unabashed non-GBV highlight of the entire festival, the band that converted the unfamiliar and justified those of us who have hyped them up. Their quintessential country-gaze was on full display from the moment they queued up the buzz saws of "Hot Rotten Grass Smell". "Chosen to Deserve" was the bonafide ne'er-do-well anthem, the song of the summer for the bad kids, Xandy Chelmis absolutely slaying on pedal steel. Of course, lead vocalist Karly Hartzman's drawl-cum-yodel was the perfect medium to communicate stories of people dying in Planet Fitness parking lots, getting electrocuted by your own house, and toothless men on oxygen tanks smoking cigarettes. But it was "Bull Believer" that absolutely brought the house down, tears in the eyes of people who had never heard the song before. In a rare move on a normally apolitical GBV stage, Hartzman decried the nadirs of the nation, from the return of student loan payments to the policing of Black and Brown and LGBTQ+ bodies. She invited the crowd to scream along in anger as she beckoned "Finish him!" Perhaps that's what even implored Pollard to, out of nowhere between "Twilight Campfire" and "To Keep An Area", declare, "We live in a shitty country...Everything is crooked as fuck!" It was a small moment, perhaps inconsequential, but one that really hammered down for me that after all these years, Pollard's done what he's always done: change.

#live music #guided by voices #dayton masonic center #yellow cab tavern #matador #jake whitener #dinosaur jr. #built to spill #melanie radford #heartless bastards #erika wennerstrom #greg clifford #arun bali #sam pankey #beth harris #kiwi jr #wednesday #sub pop #scott marshall #david newgarden #welshpool frillies #gbv #robert pollard #paddy considine #chavez #matador records #j mascis #steven hyden #r.e.m. #doug gillard

[no-oscar-dicaprio]

Unspeakable things Written longhand in your diary Unspeakable things In bags piled into a phone booth Pressed against glass Shouted aloud alone in gear at a red light Unspeakable things Stored at a high rate of interest

Everything that you've done Laid out here, one by one Caught on tape and compiled No one could ever ever try and forgive

#music #unspeakable things #kiwi jr #kiwi jr. #chopper #audio #bandcamp

[innovacancy]

Kiwi Jr The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA 11 February 2023

#kiwi jr #sub pop #cooler returns #football money

[jungleindierock]

Kiwi Jr. - The Extra Sees The Film

New video The Extra Sees The Film from a Canadian indie rock band i like very much Kiwi Jr.  The Extra Sees The Film is the third sample of music they have shared from their upcoming third album Chopper which will be in stores by August 12, 2022 via Sub Pop Records.

#Kiwi Jr #Canada #indie rock #indie music #music #new music #new video #indie #rock #alternative rock #2022 #Rebjukebox #Jungle Indie Rock #JIR

[verifiedaccount]

Listen/purchase: Domino by Kiwi jr

Had the refrain stuck in my head for weeks.

#bandcamp #kiwi jr

[fortherecordpodcast]

For the Record #181: Kiwi Jr.'s "Chopper"

Toronto band Kiwi Jr. is one of our favorite recent discoveries. Their third album knocks it out of the park with new wave synths, tight and jangly guitars, and clever, rapid-fire lyrics. We discuss "Chopper" on episode #181 of "For the Record."

Episode link: https://fortherecordpodcast.com/podcasts/media/2023-01-07-ftr-episode-181-kiwi-jr-chopper.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast by clicking here for iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/for-the-record-with-gg-and-adam/id943710156, or by copying and pasting this XML feed into your favorite podcatcher’s "subscribe" field: http://fortherecordpodcast.com/podcasts/feed.xml

Stream the episode via your browser here:

Or tune in to BFF.fm to hear us every other Thursday at 9:30am!

#kiwi jr #kiwi jr. #subpop #sub pop #dan boeckner #music #podcast

[lichtberg]

babys first album art, so happy abt this!!

#kiwi jr #subpop #album cover #album art #airbrush #night vision #chopper #helicopter

[runescapemum]

"Candles unlit on a simple shelf.

Oh, ivy crawled across the window,

reaching for days at a time.

Been trying to reach me for weeks now."

#kiwi jr #football money #soft water apple #kiwi jr. #Spotify #tunes

[deadbilly]

#music #kiwi jr #indie rock #indie pop #Youtube

[sxsw2013gg]

AB: Kiwi Jr were a pleasant non-surprise: elegantly-crafted, melodic indie rock delivered with great energy and top-notch musicianship.

#kiwi jr #sxsw #sxsw2023 #Empire Control Room

[vox-ex]

#clerical sleep #kiwi jr #windows down feelings out #favorite songs of 2022

[tonirockyhorror]

#Discosnuevos para escuchar esta semana: Danger Mause and Black Thought, Kasabian, Panda Bear y Sonic Boom, Osees, Lossline,Kiwi jr, Señales Señales, Tony Molina.

#Discosnuevos para escuchar esta semana: Danger Mause and Black Thought, Kasabian, Panda Bear y Sonic Boom, Osees, Lossline,Kiwi jr, Señales Señales, Tony Molina.

“Cheat Codes” de Danger Mouse and Black Thought “The Alchemist’s Euphoria” de Kasabian “RESET” de Panda Bear & Sonic Boom “A Foul Form” de Osees “When I Look Out I See No Stars” de Lossline “Chopper” de Kiwi jr “TORTUGA” de Señales Señales “In The Fade” de Tony Molina

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#Danger Mause and Black Thought #Kasabian #kiwi jr #Lossline #Osees #Panda Bear y Sonic Boom #Señales Señales #Tony Molina

[the-infinite-jukebox]

Kiwi Jr. - Chopper (Mini Album Review)

(Mini Review #120, August 14th [2022]) Chopper is the third and latest studio album from Canadian indie pop rock outfit Kiwi Jr. Despite being far from the most relevant band in the realm of indie pop music, Kiwi Jr. have been a remarkably consistent though never truly mind-blowing act. Their latest effort is more of the same. It could be argued that Chopper is Kiwi Jr. leaning into their pop influences further than they ever have before. Nonetheless, their traditional indie rock-based background allows them to sound more adjacent to the power pop explosion of the 80s and 90s with artists like Matthew Sweet and Teenage Fanclub than anything pure-blooded pop. The record is solid instrumentally, with the synth tones (which were provided by each of Kiwi Jr.'s four members to some extent) on tracks like "Parasite II" especially feeling innocent and endearing in nature. Slick production only adds to the record's shine and charm. While it doesn't break any ground that hasn't already been broken by artists from decades prior, Chopper is another undeniably consistent project from Kiwi Jr.

Final Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Essential Tracks: The Extra Sees the Film

#music #review #reviews #albums #album review #kiwi jr #2022 albums #2022 reviews #3.5/5 stars

[sr-helvetica]

Night Vision - Kiwi Jr.

Night Vision – Kiwi Jr.

6 canciones, 6 trayectos de un verano perfecto (5/6) Pamplona-Pontevedra, segunda semana agosto de 2022: A. tiene que trabajar, los niños se rebelan (yo hice exactamente lo mismo a su edad) y dicen que no quieren pasar una semana en la casa donde mi primo y su marido veranean en una aldea diminuta (Lugar de P/ Parroquia de C/ Concello de C) en el interior de Pontevedra. Mi hijo M. -13 años, casi…

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#2022 #Chopper #Kiwi Jr #Rock #Sub Pop

[polaroidblog]

“polaroid – un blog alla radio” – S21E35

“polaroid – un blog alla radio” – S21E35

“How is your heart still beating?” si domandano con stupore i Kiwi Jr. nella canzone che apre la scaletta di questa sera, ed è forse una domanda che si sarà posta più di una persona ancora all’ascolto di questo logoro podcast. Ma se il vostro cuore batte ancora forte per l’indiepop e l’indie rock, e non dimentica gli indispensabili brindisi, ecco a voi una nuova puntata di “polaroid – un blog…

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#Bloods #Bologna #compilation #download #Enzo Baruffaldi #feed #Hause Plants #Hazy Sour Cherry #indie #indie rock #indiepop #Kiwi jr #Laundromat Chicks #Laura Jane Grace #Lisasinson #log #mixtape #mp3 #nastrone #NEU #NEU Radio #new releases #news #novità #nuove uscite #Nur #Nur Al HAbash #Oneida #playlist #podcast

[robmoro]

RobMoro TV | Kiwi Jr. - 'Night Vision'

RobMoro TV | Kiwi Jr. – ‘Night Vision’

Toronto indie-rock quartet KIWI JR. are back! Announcing their third album, “Chopper”, to which they unveiled with latest single, ‘Night Vision’ Their third album will be the follow up to 2021’s “Cooler Returns”, which was also produced by WOLF PARADE co-founder and current ARCADE FIRE member Dan Boeckner. “Before ‘Night Vision’ was 100% written, just the basic idea of it existing as a Kiwi Jr.…

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#Dan Boeckner #indie music #Kiwi Jr #Laura-Lynn Petrick #music #Music Blog #music news #Music site #music video #musicblog #New Music #new music blog #robmoro #RobMoro TV