cootie catcher Get Animated For 'Puzzle Pop' Video

(Chromatic) Fast-rising Toronto band cootie catcher today shared their cascading, soaring, and self-sampling new song "Puzzle Pop." The track is the third single from their forthcoming new album Something We All Got-which landed on 2026 most-anticipated lists from Stereogum, NME, and Exclaim!-due out February 27th via Carpark Records.

"It's a song about how I should ask more from people but I don't," explains singer/guitarist Nolan Jakupovski of "Puzzle Pop," out now alongside an animated video by Corrinne James (Naomi Alligator). "A non-confrontational anthem? Always making incorrect assumptions from lack of communication... 'i know you don't like to point out the obvious/let's just let nature run its course'."

The song follows additional album singles "Straight Drop" and "Gingham Dress," which earned praise and support from Pitchfork ('Selects'), Stereogum, Alternative Press, Paste, and more. Something We All Got is now available for pre-order.

cootie catcher-Jakupovski (vocals, guitar), Anita Fowl (vocals, bass), Sophia Chavez (vocals, synths), and Joseph Shemoun (drums)-will head out on tour in support of the album beginning March 4th in Montreal, QC. The run also includes a March 6th show at the New Colossus Festival in New York, NY, and a hometown record release show on March 29th. A current itinerary is below.

There's an alternate reality where everyone makes a living wage and the cleanest buses you've ever seen arrive every other minute. Where the most intense songs are about confessing your love to a crush at the apple orchard, and where gentle feelings and chaotic energy are inseparable best friends. This is the timeline where cootie catcher is right at home. This band exudes both vulnerability and unbridled excitement, creating a sound that hypercharges the open-hearted tenderness of twee pop with spiraling synths and giddy electronics. Something We All Got is the clearest and most vibrant reading of cootie catcher's vision yet, with songs of sweetness, nervousness, and expectancy that beam out unguarded.

After releasing music made primarily in basements, Something We All Got is the band's first flirtation with studio recording. The edges are still sharp, however, with some parts assembled from time-honored lo-fi methods and fun, personally-sourced samples seeping into the production. The sound is explosive and upbeat, with euphoric guitars, bubbly synth lines, speedy drums both played and programmed, and all other manner of sound constantly colliding. cootie catcher has three songwriters-Chavez, Fowl, and Jakupovski-all of whom have distinctive voices but still manage to overlap in their writing on shared concerns like navigating the lines of romantic and platonic relationships, their city's social scenes, and struggles in both the microcosmic experience of playing in a band and the zoomed-out challenges of living through late-stage capitalism. Yet joy still touches every surface of Something We All Got.

cootie catcher rolls down hills and jumps through flaming hoops throughout Something We All Got without ever muting the visceral emotions that drive these songs. There's a palpable tension between the band's exhilarating sonics and the raw, often uneasy sentiments expressed, but it's an integral part of what makes them unique. Rather than hide, cootie catcher is instead fearlessly direct, running full-speed toward every confusion and excitement, and embracing the reality they're in.

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