Some albums take a while to sink in. (Growers.) Some never do. (Not sure what to call those.) Then there are efforts like the upcoming Blowin’ Up (out August 14 via K), the fourth LP from Toronto’s Kiwi Jr., that hit from the first note and become indelible by the final track.
The quartet—guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Gaudet, drummer Brohan Moore, guitarist Brian Murphy and bassist Mike Walker—has three prior quality full-lengths to its credit but has really done it this time. Blowin’ Up is full of quirky, catchy, melodic bangers, from jaunty opener “Photos Of The Reenactment” to the delirious “Pure Michigan” to emotional closer “Landscape With Limousine.” Gaudet’s lyrics are sometimes inscrutable but also seemingly so specific that they’re either pulled from real life or he’s a great fiction writer. (Just one example, the first lines from “New Jade Rabbit”: “Remember I got so high, we thought I was going to die?/And you drove drunk with all our shit in the trunk.”)
Will Blowin’ Up be MAGNET’s top album of 2026? Doubtful, but it’s the early leader in at least one clubhouse. MAGNET’s Matt Hickey—who had to stop playing Blowin’ Up to avoid burnout but got over it—asked Gaudet a fawning question and four others, give or take, about the U.S. versus Canada, sports and other stuff. (Keep an eye out in August for Gaudet’s track-by-track take on Blowin’ Up.)
I absolutely love Blowin’ Up, and I’m convinced right now that it’ll be my top record of 2026—not that that gets you anything. So, naturally, my first question is how do Canadians feel about America these days?
America is big and difficult to take on as a whole. I think it depends on who you ask and how much screen time they average. America is made of Americans, and there’s a whole lot of good eggs.
Four records in, what’s your take on how the band has evolved? Would you consider Blowin’ Up to be your best work so far?
It’s my favorite of our albums right now, but I don’t love to put on a critic’s hat and look in the mirror. I think that can slow you down and screw you up, trying to rank your own stuff. That sort of thing they call getting lost in your own sauce. Blowin’ Up probably sounds the best out of any of our records; there’s a lot more space on it, which I’m into. We’re getting more familiar with what our strengths and weaknesses are. We know what works and what doesn’t now, so the game becomes one of execution and following the straight line.
I believe I hear six sports references—five if you don’t count bowling as a sport—on Blowin’ Up. You’ve always sprinkled those in, with the debut LP even titled Football Money. What are your allegiances, and which is the next Canadian team to win a championship?
Montreal Canadiens through and through. That runs deep in Kiwi. That’s probably the most important thing keeping the band together, even more so than the music. We’ll schedule touring based on the Habs’ schedule. The Blue Jays broke my heart last year, and I still haven’t really been able to look directly at what happened. The playoff run was magic, but they came so close that it hurts. Hurts real bad. I can’t even really think about it, and I think this is the most I’ve been able to say about it since last year. Anyway, back to hockey: The Canadiens’ future is really bright, so I think we have a lot to look forward to.
Back to the Canada/U.S. topic, it’s not an easy environment these days in the States for a touring rock band. What’s it like in Canada vs. here?
It’s unreasonable to tour in Canada. There’s only a handful of major cities, and some of them are thousands of kilometers away from each other. God bless the young bands who get in a van and drive coast to coast. I think that’s beautiful. It’s awfully romantic, the idea of touring across Canada, but more and more I think people are concluding that it’s not really feasible. Unless you can afford a bus. Save it for a honeymoon or retirement. We’re stuck playing quite close to home unless it’s a festival where we can fly in. Please fly us to your festival.
Speaking of that, it’s cool that you guys are playing Riot Fest in Chicago in September, though feel free to add a club date. Have you ever played that big of a festival? How well do you think you’ll go over?
I think this is the biggest fest in the U.S. we’ll have played. We’ve played some festivals in Europe before, but this will be different. I imagine that we’ll be playing at like noon, so I don’t know how many people will be there to see us. It’ll go well; we tend to like playing on a big stage. I love to play Chicago—wonderful city, but don’t try to get me to eat one of those hot dogs, though. I got no place for that.
