ifitbeyourwill Podcast #194 • Kiwi Jr.

 

Four albums deep, Toronto's Kiwi Jr. arrive at Blowin' Up by doing something quietly radical: playing it live, together, in a room. Jeremy Gaudet traded the tight compression and Pro Tools tinkering of past records for the sound of four people breathing the same air—guitar solos left unswapped, drums left unmoved. The result opens up where earlier Kiwi Jr. records clenched, trading whimsical, pop-culture-soaked lyricism for something more spacious and unguarded. Gaudet talks candidly about writing from title first, riff last, and the Neil Young listening sessions that shaped the room-sound instinct. Out August 7th, it's the sound of a band trusting the take.

linktr.ee/kiwijrgroup

The Goods • Summer's Almost Gone • 2026

INSTAGRAM

Oakland, California power pop outfit The Goods return July 22 with “Summer's Almost Gone,” the first single from their upcoming LP Goodbye Summertime, due September 16 on Dandy Boy Records. Less than a year after releasing their debut full-length Don't Spoil the Fun, songwriter Rob Good pushes the project into new territory, folding Beatles-esque psychedelia, jangling folk rock, sunny indie pop, and the melodic punch of classic power pop into something far bigger than what came before. For fans of The Lemon Twigs, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Young Guv, and The Apples In Stereo, “Summer's Almost Gone” is the first glimpse of an album written during a period of dramatic personal change and creative obsession.

Westside Cowboy • So Much Country 'Till We Get There • 2026

Riding a wave of industry excitement by a self-coined genre of 'Britainicana', Westside Cowboy's pairing of 90's alt-guitar and folkish lyricism has brought about one of the most thrilling bands in the UK who find themselves in every music conversation. WtHB

Prism Shores • Softest Attack • 2026

Instagram

Prism Shores are Montreal janglers who cherry-pick the record crate for influence, recalling the best shambling C86, fuzzed-out power pop, and glistening shoegaze while leaving an idiosyncratic stamp. Softest Attack, their new album, arrives April 10, 2026, on Meritorio and Having Fun (Canada). Recorded hot on the heels of 2025’s breakthrough effort Out From Underneath, it finds the band catapulting into a more immediate, hook-laden direction, relying less on nocturnal atmospherics and leaning into the pure, undiluted strength of their melancholic songwriting.

Local Weatherman • Right One • 2026

“Meshing the contemplative nature of shoegaze with a buzzy garage rock sound… simultaneously timely and nostalgic.”

- THE LINE OF BEST FIT

“Ridiculously hooky bones and unfettered vocals.” 

- THE UGLY HUG

“A jagged, cathartic burst of energy that captures the spiraling rush of anxiety and the strange beauty found in trying to keep it all together.” 

- AUDIOFUZZ 

best of 2024 • Mammoth Penguins • Here

The new record leans into a raw pop-punk power-trio sound more than ever, with a deep growl in layered guitars and bursts of percussion and harmony. The songs and artwork explore themes about finding a place for yourself and familiarity with people and places. Although it turns back towards a classic three-piece sound, the band weren’t restricted by that palette, adding finishing touches of percussion, extra guitars and backing vocals in short bursts in a garden shed, and also bringing in gorgeous strings to sweeten the title track.

You know that it's the right thing to do

We've got the chance to achieve something new

And I will be here

It's alright to have doubts

There's always new things to find out

But I will be here

Picture the first wedding in four weddings and a funeral. A marquee. It’s the end of the night and the band have finished but not packed down yet. I go and pick up a guitar and start singing this song. Slowly the band come back onstage and join in. joyzine

best of 2024 • Girl and Girl • Maple Jean and the Anthropocene

Maple Jean dries of spit licked clean

And Ma and Pa are crying, once again

Ding dong, life begins

Palm fronds, mandarins

And I'm coming up, yeah life's not that bad

And I love Mum and I don't mind Dad

Oh my, how she's grown

Into her winter coat

We must let her go

There she goes, there she goes...

Then there’s Call A Doctor’s sorta-centerpiece “Maple Jean and the Anthropocene,” a five-minute epic offering a new perspective on climate change and the notion of what it means, in a personal sense, to suffer: “I live in the bushland, and I was driving home one night and hit and killed a wallaby with my car,” James recalls while discussing the song’s lyrical inspiration. “My first thought was, ‘What is the universe trying to tell me?’ No remorse, no guilt, just total self-centeredness. Which was like, Woah, you fucking psychopath! This wallaby wasn’t put on this earth to send you a message. That’s what the song is about, our egocentric species - thinking you’re the main character and that everything that happens is somehow about you.” subpop

best of 2024 • Laughing • Bruised

The Canadian supergroup’s debut album arrives like a progeny of Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr., and even Neil Young’s Crazy Horse all while constructing a singular, inspiring voice of its own. read more

WESTSIDE COWBOY • Ive never met anyone i thought i could really love (until i met you) • 2024

https://bfan.link/westsidecowboy

Sprouting from unserious jams in their drummer Paddy Murphy’s bedroom, what initially began as an inside joke as a welcome distraction from mediocre employment and higher education for WestSide Cowboy has quickly gotten out of hand, meaning that they now have to moderately apply themselves to it.

Riding a thrilling lo-fi boxcar tuned to the melodic precision of Teenage Fanclub and held together with the slacker cool of Pavement, for most bands this would be enough, but not for WestSide Cowboy. Just when you think you have them pinned, they career the entire thing into a brick wall of country, trad and early harmony-coated, major-key rock’n’roll. They call this process ‘Britainicana’.

Laughing • Don't Care • 2024

https://www.instagram.com/laughingonline/

What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding? Laughing are Montreal-based rock n' rollers who take cues from some of the greatest pop songwriters of the past five decades. Four unique voices from across the Canadian expanse. Cross-stitched material and temporary ego sublimation serve them well in their pursuit of the holy grail: a perfect song. Their debut album Because It's True is an honest attempt at inviting you in on the cosmic joke. Heap your praise, adulation, scoff, or scorn upon them; they'll still be Laughing.

Mammoth Penguins • Here • 2024

The new record leans into a raw pop-punk power-trio sound more than ever, with a deep growl in layered guitars and bursts of percussion and harmony. The songs and artwork explore themes about finding a place for yourself and familiarity with people and places. Although it turns back towards a classic three-piece sound, the band weren’t restricted by that palette, adding finishing touches of percussion, extra guitars and backing vocals in short bursts in a garden shed, and also bringing in gorgeous strings to sweeten the title track.

Dent May • "Coasting On Fumes (feat. Jordana)” • 2024

I think this album might be the purest power pop collection Dent has made, and one that really captures his talents as a pop songwriter in a classic mold. He's never flashy or gimmicky, but I think has truly emerged as a master of the form, and this record encapsulates that nicely.

dentmay.com

 "One of indie-music's most tasteful songwriters."

NPR

 

"Dent May shine[s] a light on efficacy of simplicity in the face of the complexities of modern life."

Pitchfork

 

"Remarkable...May doesn’t have any easy answers, but the pop hooks lure us in, inviting us to suss out these universal ambiguities right alongside him."

Bandcamp 

 

"Absolutely dazzling."

Stereogum

🎙️ ifitbeyourwill Ep. 3: Gold Connections

Indie Rock/Power Pop outfit Gold Connections joined me from their homes in New Orleans to chat about their musical journey and their 2nd full-length record coming out in 2024. As well, Will Marsh and cousin Frazer discussed their influences, the guts of the new record, and finally we parted with some amazing words of wisdom for fellow DYI artists. Can’t wait for the new record to drop in the new year. Stay tune at the end of our chat for the featured single, “Confession.” Enjoy.

Bandcamp
Instagram

http://www.goldconnectionsmusic.com/

“There’s something undeniably catchy about the music of Gold Connections.” 
- NPR 

MAN ON MAN • Showgirls • 2023

manonmanmusic.com

Hendricks the Hatmaker • Violet • 2022

https://www.hendricksthehatmaker.ch/

Hendricks the Hatmaker are a power-folk-punk trio from Lucerne, who musically combine the genres «gin», «hatmaking» and «Schnorreböx». With their instruments the band rejoices on the hat brim of music, prances over the bar counters of society and looks deep into the glasses of poor souls. The melodies are sweet as juniper, spicy as coriander and hot as pepper. Guitar, drums, bass (and an occasional acoustic instrument) complement each other as well as cucumbers, pepper and tonic water.

Gravity • 23 Underground Selections • 2021

bit.ly

A number of familiar faces return this week. We welcome back the cosmic folk rock of Dead Perennials, the soulful bluesy rock of Mr B & The Wolf and the lo-fi bedroom pop of Kicks Of The East. Samuel Alexander Barbour also returns with his Celtic folk pop, as do Woosley Band with their alternative roots rock and The Shattered Hopes with an industrial take on post-punk. Big Stir Records contribute a track from the new Bablers release, a sun-soaked slice of powerpop perfection. 

Squill • Moon Sessions • 2020

Squill is the solo project of Lily Richeson from Olympia, WA.

 

Kestrels • "Grey and Blue" ft. J Mascis • 2020

You might already be familiar with them, but Kestrels are a fuzzy, reverb drenched power-pop band from Halifax, Nova Scotia who excel at crafting huge sounding songs with big hooks and ripping riffs. Ostensibly a pop record filtered through classic mid 90’s indie rock, Dream or Don’t Dream is Kestrels’ follow-up to their self-titled 2016 record which was praised by places like The FADER, VICE, BrooklynVegan, KEXP, the BBC and more. 

Field Mouse • Meaning • 2019

fieldmousemusic.com

Super Low • 2019