Alvvays

norman blake is on a track on the new one apparently?

The new album definitely didn't hit me the same way the debut did, but I'm enjoying it a lot. It's been a good year for this kind of indie pop with the Rose Elinor Dougall and Japanese Breakfast albums also being two of my most played.

It's really grown on me over the last few listens. I'd say it's on par with the debut; it's nice to hear them get a little more muscular.

Just heard "Dreams Tonight" for the first time and I'm in love. Probably the first single of theirs that's struck me since Archie.

"nice to hear them get a little more muscular" <-- otm

that's why Plimsoll Punks thru Lollipop is the meat of this record

Not my Baby has to become a single, what a song.

Love those space doo wop vocal FX on the chorus of "Lollipop"

Oh man this new record is tremendous.

This is a very good band.

never listened to the first one but I listened to the new album today and I almost really like it. I love her voice, I love the lyrics, but there's something about the music - the drumming, particularly - that doesn't quite gel. I definitely prefer the slower and wispier moments.

You should def check out the debut. It's wispier all around.

Like the neq album butbthe lyrics arw awful and childish.
Aren't they tired of that love/relationships/he vs she songs?

probably not because love and relationships are an extremely important part of life

First album yards ahead of the second imho

thereis a definite difference between the two albums their old sound was very delicate. this is more robust, an attempt, perhaps, to break free of any semblance of "preciousness." that is, i don't know if their last sound would have sustained many more albums.

i don't think any of the songs on here are good as "party police" but you know

lollipop (ode to jim) might be up there

the squeaky guitar distortion floating above the bubblegum hook

what would you like them to write about, nostormo?

I love this band when I hear them on the radio, but know almost nothing factual about them.

They seem glossy, shiny, compressed, professional - yet at odd times they also nod to a rougher, more cheap & cheerful kind of indiepop tradition (Heavenly for instance). Maybe the single band they remind me of most is (back on the glossier side) Club 8.

I don't know if 'singles' are still a reality for bands like this but the 'radio hits' - 'dreams tonite' and 'not my baby' - are sublime, though I am doubtful that anyone should use the word 'tonite' in a title.

where do you live where you can hear Alvvays on the radio?

Heard Dream Tonite on the radio once (Israel)

They are played fairly often on satelite radio Sirius XMU

oh right. i always forget stuff like that exists.

i'm sure they're played all the time on the local NPR music station here in mpls

WRAS "Album 88" plays them a lot here in Atlanta.

Molly Rankin is the daughter of John Morris Rankin, who played the fiddle in the family Celtic Folk/Country music collective, The Rankin Family, who were really big in Canada in the 90s.

Really come around to antisocialites

it's better/more consistent than the debut imo

They're good, but I find a kind of sameyness creeps in over the course of a whole album.

My sister says they covered Elastica's "Blue" last night in Milwaukee, I'm so jealous.

"in undertow" is one of the best songs of the decade. it is perfect.

kinda effortlessly great too

oh wow re Elastica! used to love Blue, even as a demo on an early single.

the Kirsty MacColl cover is also top hole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km3ZPKzI26Q

listened to 'In Undertow' about a half-dozen times today. love the way the guitars weave in and out, matching the lyrics.

They’re very new to me, so I just went back and listened to their debut yesterday and today. I can see how some would see Marry Me Archie as their pinnacle and Undertow as a sort of sibling. They’re both so good and perfectly catchy, so fun to sing along to. I think the debut is more solid as an album, though both are a little patchy.

i love this band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgOSHDitcds

so impressive to see a band pull of a live performance that is so incredibly solid. they seem like they're effortlessly in the zone all the time.

has the drummer from the KEXP performance ^above left? i'm watching a 2018 show and it's a different drummer? that's too bad if so, she ruled.

drummer has changed a few times. i can't even remember if it was a male or female when i saw them live last fall.

"effortlessly in the zone all the time" is a good way to describe this band. two of my favorite records of the past 5 years

thing about the drummer in the KEXP clip above is that she also contributed some spot-on vocal harmonies from behind the kit. not just trivial parts but really key ones. so badass

anyway, it's almost 2am, i should probably go to bed. but zoning in on this band for a few hours and just checking out everything they have has been so rewarding, totally worth it.

Saw them last night at The Fox in Oakland. So great! The lead singer hit all the high notes, the drummer and keyboardist sang perfect harmonies, and the lead guitarist nailed all the runs too. Surprised they didn't sell out (esp with Frankie Rose and The Drums as openers).

lately i have been seriously digging the harmonies that gradually appear in the choruses in "dreams tonite"

So good man

I think the Seattle show was sold out a while in advance. tbh they only have a few songs that I actively remember and care about but I’d love to see them.

this band makes me proud to be canadian

Didn't even realize that they were Canadian until they started talking about a dubs/raps finals.

they sound more swedish to me, like a mix of cardigans/pretenders at times

I've now had this same experience with both of their albums:
- First impression: pleasant but nondescript. Sort of an indistinct wash of songs without anything immediate to grab onto.
- I listen a few weeks later just to see if missed anything, and hooks start to resolve out of the blur.
- I find myself returning to album with increasing frequency over a period of a year or so, until finally the songs are looping in my head whenever my brain is idle, and i realize that this might be my favorite album whether I like it or not.

Sort of the textbook definition of a "grower".

(the exception to all this was "Marry Me Archie" which I loved from the first time I heard it)

(i'm about to contradict myself hundreds of times. don't read this if you like words)

i've liked the 4 preview tracks from Blue Rev that came out before the album. they sounded muddled, to me, at first, but i think that's because i'm used to alvvays having a clean, distinct, sound. and maybe that's what the rest of the album will be like, i don't know.

here's where i don't make any sense. i was honing in on this paragraph from the glowing pitchfork review:

Alvvays knew the mechanics of a song inside and out on their second album, Antisocialites, but now they are masters of their craft. Blue Rev is absolutely lousy with bridges and middle-8s that give even the album cuts a sense of stakes and momentum. They’ll do the Pixies’ quiet-loud-quiet thing, then a big gaudy key change straight out of a country tune, then bring in some of Kevin Shields’ famous “glide guitar” technique, then Rankin will belt out a note like it’s Adele karaoke night, then the band will bring it down to do a synth-led psychedelic song about a reply-guy in your mentions. This wide-ranging, recombinant style is less about genre-hopping and more about the construction of the songs themselves—there’s so much care over when the chorus needs to go up the octave, when the guitar solo needs to come screaming in, when the key needs to modulate, when the rhythm section needs to drop out. Any band can borrow a style, but when Alvvays builds these songs from the treasured blueprints of bands like Lush and the Lilys, they feel monumental from the very first listen.

somehow, this gets at what was irritating me about the beths new album. i like the beths. i'll probably like their new album when i'm not so depressed all of the time. but i think what was irritating me was hearing those "blueprints" too clearly, being able to predict what is going to happen the first time you hear a song, before it happens. there's something really nice in that feeling, too - that's what makes something feel like an instant classic, is when it does exactly what you wanted it to do. alvvays is a band that is often in that territory, too. but somehow it doesn't bother me as much with them. the predictability is slightly veiled.

don't know where i'm going with that. i like the beths, i started that thread, i will like them again. there's nothing wrong with being crafty as hell, every single time. and i don't know what i'm asking -- for power pop bands to "mess up"? am i just wanting 80s grunge to reemerge from power pop again? (nb: i am completely making up music history)

Karl, I think I can relate with what you're getting at. You already know how I feel about The Beths. What sets Alvvays apart is that although they're working within established power pop structures, it doesn't feel like they're painting by numbers - even when they're doing something obvious, it doesn't feel obvious. Their music has the odd surprise twist of shoegaze guitar, or a sudden shift in dynamics, that feels fresh even if it isn't. I don't get the same feeling from The Beths.

Back to the Alvvays album itself - there are some great songs here. I'm still not sold on the production, but the tunes are undeniable. This would be getting a lot of play from me if the sound wasn't so fatiguing. In case I have stated it enough; I can't stand over-compression.

I like Track 10 ("Pomeranian Spinster"), that's a good song. Seems maybe atypically peppy? (this is my first time listening to this band)

I agree the compression is unpleasant

Pomeranian Spinster also stood out to me the first couple times around! There’s a lot to like on the album

Highlights for me so far are After the Earthquake (those guitars!) and Pressed. Also like the shoegaze guitar on Tom Verlaine a lot.

yeah, the mbv-effect guitar is prominent on this album but it's well done! it nods clearly to mbv while being its own thing

(specifically the tremelo/whammy bar pitch-bending)

i don't get the beths comparison point here at all. the beths aren't a shoegaze band. alvvays have always had that in the background and on this album they're bringing it to the forefront, along with woozy retro synths.

the heavy compression seems to be trying to emulate a particular retro lo-fi feeling. similar feelings to those old lo-fi ariel pink albums (sorry for the comparison) except nowhere near as actually lo-fi. i'm not really a fan of the effect here.

it's not a bad album but it's not doing anything interesting & the hooks aren't really there either

as always, as soon as i posted the beths thing i regretted it. i honestly hate talking about music, more than most things because i love it so much and yet i have a hard time describing it. i feel like a dummy. if i had a point it was about songs which do the exact things that the listener wants. the guitar needs to be an octave higher there, to hit just right in that certain way, and so they do it. in some ways this is really weird to me, and in others i think it's probably just what power pop is. i've always had an uneasy relationship to it. i also regret this post

i think this album is a little more oblique than just doing exactly what the listener wants, the hooks aren't as direct as their previous albums (but i didn't really care for those either) but not that much, and not in a way that really interests me

I like this band but this album sounds like shit

this album rules and is super-catchy and sounds great, i don't know what you all are talking about

Yes.
And 2022 in general is a rarely superb year for indie rock/pop.

Yeah, I was thinking about my albums of the year at this point and there's some much indie rock/pop in there. The Beths, Alvvays, Hatchie, Say Sue Me, Soccer Mommy, Tallies, Melody's Echo Chamber, Nilüfer Yanya, Gwenno, Caroline Loveglow and Stella Donnelly have been some of my 2022 highlights. Even Suede made a great album. There have been a few disappointments though. I haven't really gone back to Beach House much, the Mitski album didn't hold up beyond a few listens and the Beach Bunny album was kind of flat.

yeah, the mbv-effect guitar is prominent on this album but it's well done! it nods clearly to mbv while being its own thing

― Karl Malone, Saturday, October 8, 2022 6:30 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Prominent indeed! Agreed that it's done quite well. Like the mix of dream/power pop here with lots of good melody and woozy guitar sounds. Fun record.

huh I never checked this band out because I hate the name so much

True heads know to yell out “all-vee-vays, right?!” between every single song of the live experience until they acknowledge your presence

not too crazy about this album but the new album by Mamalarky (another bad name) is pretty good

https://mamalarky.bandcamp.com/album/pocket-fantasy

I'm a week behind on listening to this, but I'm please they've kept up the tradition of giving one song that totally slaps and then a bunch of others I'd never remember even if I listened to them 100 times.

…“Pomeranian Spinster,” right(?)

Taught my first-ever Archie yesterday, an amusing grade 1 kid. You bet I played the Alvvays song for them.

I'vve been meaning to givve this band a listen but still havven't gotten around to it.

vvhy are you typing Vs like that

Has anyone figured out how to ask Siri to play this band?

I'vve been meaning to givve this band a listen but still havven't gotten around to it.

if you don't have a problem with indie pop, i would like to strongly encourage you to prioritize getting around to it.

xp to caek: I just tried "play the band always" and it played Alvvays on Spotify, not sure if that's Siri or Spotify getting it right

ConcernedApe (the guy who made Stardew Valley) made a video for "Many Mirrors" and it is giving me some badly-needed joy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2DFWOkioy4

i've sorta gotten over how kinda shitty 'blue rev' sounds because there's some incredible cuts on it. the run from 'belinda says' to 'fourth figure' is as good as, like, built to spill runs on their best 90s albums. i still think molly is the best guitar pop songwriter around right now. so many new guitar bands just don't have any tunes, but i feel like alvvays' songs will stand the test of time.

i wonder why, for example, a lot of interesting names from sarah records were overlooked; meanwhile this by numbers act is heavily promoted

sarah recs was 25 years prior...???

why do bad things happen to good labels

Everywhere I go, I hear songs by this band playing over the sound system. Supermarkets, coffee shops, the mall. It alvvays seems to be a different song — at least, I don’t recognize the songs from hearing to hearing. They seem like the kind of band I would like; I’m a corny old indie-pop sucker. But the singer’s voice is like a dentist’s drill in my ear. It’s geared to exactly the wrong timbre for me somehow, and I find it actually, actively, unbearably needling.