Toronto’s Good Kid has released their highly anticipated debut album ‘Can We Hang Out Sometime?’,recorded with GRAMMY-winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Wallows, Lana Del Rey). The highly-anticipated debut album captures the band pushing their sound into new territory, while retaining the high-energy hooks and inventive riffs that have become their hallmark.
The theme of connection runs throughout the 10 tracks on ‘Can We Hang Out Sometime?’ –its importance, its fragility, and the search for it in moments of uncertainty. From the bittersweet “Wall” to the tender “Coffee”, the album serves as both an ode to and a meditation on how we relate to friends, lovers, the world around us, and ourselves.
Leaning into that emotional openness, the band pushed themselves further than ever before in the studio. “This record is the most unfiltered and uninhibited we have ever been,” shares the band. “There are so many things on this record that are irreproducible, sounds and methods that made each and every take totally unique. From writing a crazy solo that’s nearly impossible to play to having Nick screaming his lungs out in his vocals for the very first time.”
Across the record, those ideas take shape in stories of strained friendships, missed signals, and the quiet effort it takes to show up for one another. “The record is about acknowledging the difficulties of life and hanging out with your friends anyway, to help make it better,” says singer Nick Frosst. That tension between closeness and distance carries across the album’s emotional range, from the grungy bite of “Eastside”, which picks at a long-held grudge, to the haunting pull of “Rift” and its all-consuming obsession. “Cicada” wrestles with inadequacy and desire, while “Tea Leaves” reflects on the cyclical pain of drifting apart.
At the album’s core, “Ginger Lemonade” stands as a heartfelt love letter to the band’s own creative partnership, a reminder that ‘chosen’ family can weather even the most uncertain moments. “Sonically this record is us exploring some of the most visceral emotions…” shares guitarist David Wood. That sense of shared experience extends not only to the album’s themes, but to the way the band write and create together. “If we could each individually just write these songs, we probably would have,” explains guitarist Jacob Kereliuk. “But part of why we’re in a band is the camaraderie and the brotherhood. We all need each other to take these ideas and explore them together.”
A string of releases leading up to the record release has built incredible momentum for the band. Recent single “Cicada” sits at over 5 million streams across platforms, helping push the band past 3.45 million monthly listeners, and over 800 million catalogue streams to date.
Late last year, the band performed at the Streamer Awards in Los Angeles, where the performance placed the band amongst the event’s impressive list of past performers and fellow digital-era music disruptors including Ty Dolla $ign, Bella Poarch, Yung Gravy, and BBNO$.
Blending the punchy riffs of J-rock, the immediacy of indie rock, and the raw edge of pop-punk, Good Kid has spent the past several years quietly building something larger than a typical band trajectory. Entirely independent, they’ve cultivated a fiercely participatory fan community, while establishing themselves as one of the most creator-friendly projects in modern guitar music.
By making their entire discography Content ID–free and DMCA–free, the band have empowered creators across Twitch, YouTube, and other platforms to use their songs without fear of takedowns, allowing the music to spread organically across gaming streams, animations, and online communities.
