Smash cut to Kiwi Jr.’s third album, “Chopper”, overseen by trusted pilot Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs) on storied Sub Pop Records. Turning nocturnal with necks mock turtle, our Local Kiwi Jr. takes neon flight off the digital cliff – like The Monkees starring in Blade Runner; like Michael Mann directs Encino Man. Ten songs with synth shimmer, zen gongs with yard strimmer. The signs along the highway read “LESS BAR, MORE NOIR AHEAD.” Ah, those late summer, Joe Strummer, Home on the Range Rover Blues.
There’s a melancholy to all forms of flight, and the view out the “Chopper” is as hazy as it gets: mission-oriented, both stealth and self-realized. This album is decidedly (yet almost secretly) anti-patio-sunscreen-Beach Boys bachelor cruise sing-a-long. Sure, these songs let a little light through the blinds, but they sting insomnia, corrupt mayors, Kennedy Curses, sex tapes, and deer rifles. “Chopper” is the bird’s eye view of the big event – a real night time character of oil stain, film grain, search light, night flight. It is muscular and fragile; loud yet quiet: both an observer and somehow the observed spectacle itself.
What was slack in the slacker phase, got tauter, with lacquer glaze. Slick gloss, rightened wrongs; murdered boss, promoted pawns. With Boeckner transmitting high-voltage shocks upon every reach for a familiar instrument, Kiwi Jr. expands the palette with string machine song, synthesizered oblong, and Dentyne Classic Menthol vocals from area soprano Dorothea Paas (US Girls, Badge Epoch Ensemble) like the missing piece all along.
On August 12th, 2022, Kiwi Jr. will release “Chopper”, the group’s third album! The album, which features the lead single “Night Vision” along with highlights “Unspeakable Things,” “The Sound of Music” and “The Extra Sees the Film,” was recorded and produced in Toronto by Sub Pop labelmate Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, Operators).
The “Night Vision” video was helmed by returning director Laura-Lynn Petrick (Kiwi Jr.’s “Waiting In Line,” also directed videos by Weyes Blood and Jessica Pratt).
Singer/guitarist Jeremy Gaudet offers this, “Before ‘Night Vision’ was 100% written, just the basic idea of it existing as a Kiwi Jr. song inspired us and set the tone for the record. A lot of the images in the lyrics are of teenagers driving around, trying to make plans, sharing the aux, putting their parents’ car in the ditch, etc. But the idea at the centre of the song is that of working up the nerve to make a big decision. Like a boxer getting pumped up before a fight.”
Kiwi Jr. brings the “Chopper” to a new space, demilitarizing the technology just like flasks, aviators, and cargo shorts. Graceful in the air above, but when the “Chopper” lands, there’s chaos on the ground. Kiwi Jr. shout, “Look Out!” When it gets close, it’ll blow the hat right off of your head.
KIWI JR. is Jeremy Gaudet vocals and guitar, Brian Murphy guitar, Mike Walker bass, Brohan Moore drums, and everybody played a little bit of keyboard.
From the album “CHOPPER” in stores on Sub Pop Records on August 12th, 2022
The Fat Angel Sings 