Kai Slater is only just getting started, yet he’s already racked up more accolades than most musicians working in the lo-fi, left-of-the-dial guitar-pop trenches. And honestly? Every bit of praise is warranted. Slater is a spectacular talent, releasing his third Sharp Pins record in as many years (Turtle Rock in 2023, Radio DDR earlier this year), and as good as those were, Balloon Balloon Balloon feels like his most fully realized work yet. At some point you start to wonder how he keeps both feet on the ground while sending underground music fans sky-high on these melodies.
It’s impossible not to compare the new Sharp Pins LP to the new Tony Molina record that came out just a week ago—both have 21 songs, yet Balloon Balloon Balloon runs nearly twice as long. Both are jangly and crammed with ideas, riffs, and killer hooks. But where Molina sounds increasingly pristine, Sharp Pins operate in a different aesthetic universe: scrappier, fuzzier, more psych-leaning, more power-pop punch, more distortion, and quirkier around the edges. They complement each other beautifully, but they’re not interchangeable. And yet, if you’re wired for this kind of music, you could spin both albums for the rest of 2025 and call the year a win.
Will Sharp Pins become the Guided By Voices of the next generation? Hard to say. But right now, Slater’s well of inspiration seems bottomless—and Balloon Balloon Balloon is further proof he’s on a serious tear. Buy now at K & Perennial Records.