Canadian indie rockers Kiwi Jr. bloomed when they moved from their hometown of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Islands to Toronto in the mid-2010s, imbuing their spirited collegiate pop with a distinctive big-city romanticism. The band took cues from a lineage of jangly slacker pop acts from the '80s and '90s for their bright and bounding 2019 debut Football Money.

Kiwi Jr. were formed by four friends in 2015. Made up of guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Gaudet, drummer Brohan Moore, bassist Mike Walker, and second guitarist Brian Murphy, the band's sound was one part Pavement's snarky melodicism, one part C-86 jangle, and sprinklings of restless wit in their lyrics about house parties, strange friends, and suburban landscapes. The band moved to Toronto shortly after forming, integrating themselves in the music scene there. Murphy split his time between playing guitar with Kiwi Jr. and bass in Alvvays, as the former band worked on their debut album between 2016 and 2017. In that time, a single demo was the band's only recorded output, but they played around Toronto constantly. It wouldn't be until 2019 that the band signed to Mint Records and the album Football Money saw a wide release.