Kiwi Jr, Real Numbers, Sandpaper

Refracting the realities of late-capitalist city life and the impossibility of work-art balance in a high-rent metropolis through satire and sarcasm, Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. has shaped their own deadpan postmodern indie rock. Confronting the desperate neon of a guitar group approaching statesmen status on their fourth album, Kiwi screech sideways to make the last exit to Michigan, laying down 10 drivetime highlights daydreaming of a sweet spot between swift pain & lucrative settlement, trudging daylight through clerical quicksand & watching the tides rise up to meet our wheels. Minneapolis' Real Numbers return with a new full length album, the gorgeously pop-tastic “Was It Always This Way.” Ten expectant, exuberant songs mixing hope and despair, the future and the past, drawing inspiration from the best of UK indiepop. While definitely picking up where their 2021 EP "Brighter Then" left off, the emphasis this time is on multi-layered guitars intended to complement the wistful and melancholy tracks with glittering awe. Lyrical themes include modern fame, mixing opposites and reckoning with your own significance, guaranteed to appeal to fans of Sarah, Creation, and Elefant Records. Sandpaper plays fun fuzzy rock songs in and about Minneapolis. Other topics include idling cars, magnets, and air conditioning. featuring members of Products Band