cootie catcher - Something We All Got
Carpark Records
Released on February 27th, 2026
When I hear rumbles of an act making waves across the Canadian music scene, I sometimes hold off until I get around listening to their newest release. Accordingly, I caught wind of cootie catcher over last summer as I saw waves of artists and music media folks I admire speak highly of their festival appearances. I learnt a bit more about them, how well their debut and sophomore album were received as well as the anticipation built around their upcoming record.
The Toronto four-piece twee pop act cootie catcher composed of Anita Fowl, Nolan Jakupovski, Sophia Chavez, and Joseph Shemoun. They capture the best elements of the genre, with its soft-spoken vocal performance and twinkly evocative compositions. They write the kind of music that you want to gush about a crush to, if you know what I mean. Since 2021, cootie catcher has released albums like stupid is as stupid does (2022) and Shy at first (2025). And the new album Something We All Got comes as a prompt follow up in the band’s discography.
The album has an iconic start with “Loiter for the love of it.” The track feels like it hits all the key things that you need to know about cootie catcher. The twinkly sounds are going to be emotive and you are going to fall in love with all the raw vocals. A sort of authenticity rests at the heart of it as the lyrics hit the titular line “I can tell that your friends are counterfeit. They don’t loiter for the love of it.” This feels almost like a mission statement, where loitering for the love of it means to embrace a meandering awe for life. In fact, “Lyfestyle” follows this up with an upbeat track rhythmically punctuated by vocaloid stabs that feel like you are in the middle of looking after your town in Animal Crossing. Lyrically, you feel a thematic continuation as the lifestyle in question is in that loitering that you “could do forever and ever.” Even if it is a short track as announced by the “that’s it, no more vocals” heard in background, it feels like it gets at the point of this album seamlessly through the brief vocal take and the peak behind the curtain that the song offers.
Things pick up with “Straight drop,” a song that has this midwest emo kind of sound that particularly hits at the energetic chorus. The drums here particularly stand out, as the steady beat is quite dynamic and engaging throughout the whole song. This kind of energy carries over to “From here to Halifax” which has this dreamier sound in the reverbed vocals and synths throughout the intro kicking back into that midwest type sound during the chorus. Notably, aside from these dreamy vocal takes and synths, the playful drum machine gives the track a unique foundation where the rest of the sound is built up. Certainly these two tracks stand out as some of my favourites in the whole album.
“No biggie” takes the energy down into a more lowkey meandering track that has some fine moments with the guitar harmonies and dj scratches. It really builds to a steady groove that lingers well. “Rhymes with rest” takes this more discreet sound into one of the best twee takes in the album, thriving through the modulated guitars, the various rhythmic elements, and the combo of organ sounds working alongside the vocals. Already at the verses, the song really hooks you into some of cootie catcher’s best writing. But by the time the chorus comes up, it really gets elevated to the next level.
By now, you get a sense of the pallet of sound that the album introduces in the first six tracks. You have those upbeat spring-time twee tracks like “Quarter note rock” or “Gingham dress.” Then there are some of those tracks that have midwest emo sensibilities like “Take me for granted,” “Stick figure,” or “Going places.” There are some more playful takes on songwriting like in “Wrong choice” where the sectioning changes grooves quite a bit, hitting some highs by the melodic chorus which nonetheless has almost a creepy aura coming through the organ — I really don’t know how to describe it. There is a clash happening instrumentally there that causes that eerie effect. It is not bad at all, but it is super interesting that it takes such an upbeat sound and gives it a kind of shadow creeping under it. Another example can be found in “Puzzle pop” with all its vocal chops and reversed sounds that gets that more electronic edge to the twee sound that has been carefully curated so far. It is one of my favorite tracks for sure.
The album has this iconic ending with “Pirouette.” It is such an energetic song, one that captivates all of these elements that cootie catcher has put together. It is up there with some of the tracks I’ve highlighted as my favourites. It certainly benefits by the vocal bops leading the end of the song, which remain despite the accentuating breakdown and then the double time that carries the album to its end.
Something We All Got is an album that has a cinematic ambiance to it. I am not saying this is quite an atmospheric soundtrack, but that it captures those moments of life that you just want to get a snapshot of. It feels like cootie catch achieved exactly what they set themselves out to do, by creating the sharper edges of their rough-around-the-edges sound. The album gets at the vulnerable and gentle while envisioning a pastel world. The ambitious 14-track album is able to create a run time where all of this gets laid out while always keeping cootie catcher’s sound fresh.
