cootie catcher's 'Something We All Got' is a joyously inventive studio debut.

By Hard of Hearing on March 9, 2026

The Toronto band hardly put a foot wrong on this outstanding third album.

Photo: Colin Medley | Words: Lloyd Bolton

On their third album, Cootie Catcher have perfected a form of bubbly indie rock which shimmers with experimental detail. 'Something We All Got' marks the Toronto band's first foray into studio recording and combines production finesse with an appreciation for the sparkly rough edges of the DIY recording process. Throughout this record, jangling guitar-led compositions are offset by whirling and whistling synths, such that if you focus in on any given moment there is far more going on than a cursory listen would reveal. This depth, attended by an abundant charm, makes this an album to love and listen to again and again.

Early single 'Puzzle Pop' set the tone for this collection. The most ambitious track on the album, what starts out as a slice of shambling slacker indie is transformed as melodies are cut up and repurposed in unnatural loops. The first hints come in the first chorus, but it is in the song's third quarter that this process really comes to the fore, laid over the clean drums and twanging guitars. Often the most exciting innovations are those that just about carry you along with their internal logic, the magic taking place right before your eyes. That particular joy is exemplified by this track. It's all sleight of hand and shadowplay, and we know that… and if anything that makes it all the more delightful.

Though the rest of the album is a little less intricate in this regard, these stray unpredictable elements disturb the surface throughout. 'Quarter note rock' is structured like a fun jangle rock tune built around big guitar bursts, but an extra degree of movement and colour is added by a wobbling xylophone-sounding hook that bursts in between choruses. The brilliant anti-love song 'Take me for granted' recalls Liz Phair, not just for its soundalike vocals and wry lyrical style, but also for the noodling synth blursts which wiggle around the chorus, reminiscent particularly of Phair's 'Whitechocolatespaceegg' record.

This record is not all about flashy effects. At its core, it is made up of catchy melodies with clever lyrics that always give you something more on the next listen. Of the fourteen tracks, a couple feel a little plain, but most are packed with clever details. 'From here to halifax' is full of such highlights, a monumental chorus line kicking in straight out of the intro with the neat line pairing 'If you have a heart… / If you have a heart of stone…'. Throughout this record, the band triumph in making great moments, finding so many ways to create them. There is a clear affection for the classic slouch of 90s indie throughout, but the main influence they take from such touchstones is that joy of idiosyncratic expression. With this, 'Something We All Got' never sits still and makes for a joyously inventive meander from start to finish.