Kiwi Jr. - Cooler Returns

What this video is

Released November 10, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic's devastation of live music, 'Cooler Returns' embodies the era's DIY creative ingenuity under constraint. Kiwi Jr., a Toronto-based quartet, had signed to Sub Pop and were announcing their sophomore LP with no ability to tour. The video transforms the absence of live performance into its own comedic premise, using intentionally terrible special…

Why it matters

A key artifact of the 2020s Canadian indie rock revival, bridging the jangly post-punk lineage of Pavement and Archers of Loaf with contemporary Sub Pop-backed production. The video's comedic lo-fi aesthetic reinforces the band's identity as witty, self-aware inheritors of slacker rock while…

The director

Toronto-based director, editor, and producer active in the Canadian indie music video scene. Previously directed Kiwi Jr.'s 'Gimme More' (January 2020). Credited on Vimeo as a digital media producer working within the Toronto creative community.