Alvvays

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)

^ this is because they are an incredible pop-rock band

Just grabbed tickets to see them in Dec!

archie is the best indie pop song of all time

i had the same general reaction as enochroot. "Plimsoll Punks" reaaaally grew on me after a handful of listens. the smiths/marr guitar lines during the verses are so good

you all might enjoy some of this new beths album that got the big ups from pitchfork yesterday. a lot of the songs (like 'happy unhappy' and 'great no one') have a tightly composed hook-filled upbeat vibe reminiscent of alvvays songs like 'plimsoll punks'

Thanks!

thanks dude. i love alvvays so much

Great tip! I just listened to the album and it really is fantastic. You're right about the hooks, there were strong ones on every song. Brilliant playing too. Looking forward to spending more time with it.

i mentioned it in the new zealand music thread but yeah that the beths album is the best

yeah, the pfork review mentioned they were all music school students and they sound like they can do this stuff in their sleep. more music school people need to play in guitar bands imo

Oh, this is good. The vocals are making me lose it.

extremely good

tell you what, this first LP has really stood up. gotta be the finest slice of guitar pop the past ten/twenty years.

archie is the best indie pop song of all time

― diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Monday, June 11, 2018 12:40 PM (one year ago)

i think they both hold up well

but i heard the second before i heard the first. it's funny how it often works that way

(preferring the first one you hear, i mean, although i like the first almost as much)

After initially thinking Antisocialites wasn't quite in the same league as the debut, I'd have a tough time picking between them now. Wonder if they're working on new material already?

New Alvvays record is tops, tho tbh I feel if you wrote "Archie, Marry me" you should be put on a government pension in perpetuity

— colin meloy (@colinmeloy) September 10, 2017

After initially thinking Antisocialites wasn't quite in the same league as the debut, I'd have a tough time picking between them now.

Had this exact same evolution. At this point, the edge goes to the second album. That said, no other song in their catalog comes within a mile of "Marry Me Archie"

Colin Meloy Sings Alvvays

i think the other songs on the S/T stand up against archie. adult diversion, next of kin, the agency group all have emotional weight.

there's something about molly's vocal inflection that's just so fun. she's playful with her voice in a super-twee way that just makes me smile. like the middle 8 on 'ode to jim' - "alter my state to get through this date" and "...won't rely on the moon for *anything*" from 'in undertow'.

i hope they tour again soon!

I've only heard the 2nd album (I think I didn't actually know it was a 2nd album until today tbh). tbh this is probably a prejudice of possible rockist or at least indieist tendencies that I do not generally expect a band this popular that makes this type of music to be any good, so my expectations were totally smashed by how good that album was

Yeah i prefer the 2nd but they're both fantastic.

careful what u wish for triggercut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xz72V-Mphw

Whenever this band announces their new album, it'll immediately be my most-anticipated album of that year. And I had no clue there was an album before Antisocialites.

the singer jumping into the water in the archie video is one of my favorite things

IIRC but hasn't Ben Giddard been covering that one for a while? I think they've been covering it since it came out.

oh I see this is from 2015

The album before antisocialites contains "archie marry me" which is the best song they have penned so far and one of the best this decade.

wow im sorry ilxors who missed out on first LP, it's sensational. adult diversion gets me very excited every single time.

Whenever this band announces their new album, it'll immediately be my most-anticipated album of that year. And I had no clue there was an album before Antisocialites.

― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Wednesday, July 24, 2019 4:42 PM (seven hours ago)

you loved Antisocialites *this* much and ... didn't bother investigating whether there was anything else available from the band?

Saw a young support band do a very earnest stripped-down version of Archie which didn't work in the slightest, now I know the true source I guess

The Ben Gibbard cover is fine, but it misses out on so much of the full-band dynamic that makes the song special. The wall-of-sound band intro midway through the first line (and again after the bridge). One of the big hooks of the song is the way molly's woozy delivery of "hey, hey" contrasts with the full-steam-ahead charge of the band, and you can't really capture that in a solo performance.

controp: archie is maybe the 5th or 6th best song this band has written

I think the band itself would contest that one.

i mean sheesh, it's good, but generally i agree with this

what strikes me, i guess, is that each of the first two albums has, i dunno, 4 or 6ish songs that are as good / nearly as good? that is impressive!

― alpine static, Wednesday, September 6, 2017 12:37 PM (one year ago)

i LOVE most of the songs from both albums but archie still towers above all

xpost thank you for quoting me, saves me from swooping in and backing you up.

i do believe there's something *special* about Archie, and i would never argue against the position that it's an all-time classic (or even that it's their best song). what i think makes Alvvays incredible is that they keep getting pretty close to it, over and over across two albums. that's not impossible, but it's hard to do! which ... i mean ... just means they're an unquestionably tippy-top-shelf band led by a tippy-top-shelf songwriter.

It’s always been «atop a cake» that’s hit me the hardest

controp: archie is maybe the 5th or 6th best song this band has written

― Karl Malone, Thursday, July 25, 2019 8:50 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

seconding this, especially when you reconsider songs like "Party Police," "Dreams Tonite," "Not My Baby," just to name a few

No one mentions 'Ones Who Love You' which is my #1 by some distance

^^^ yes!! definitely up there with the aforementioned

I listened to both albums today and there really isn't much in it. I don't think there's anything close to a bad song on either. Archie might still be my favourite song of theirs but they have a bunch that come close (Party Police, Atop A Cake, Plimsoll Punks, In Undertow, Ones Who Love You).

It's great and heartwarming to see how popular they've become so quickly. At work we have to re-order their albums on a fairly regular basis. When I talk to people about them, they're always so excited about them. One guy said they were his favourite band and this was before the second album had even be released. I've also seen them mentioned as influences by some of the best artists around (The Beths and Hatchie both named them as one of their favourite current bands). Great scores on Rate Your Music too. Interestingly Antisocialites has a higher score and a lot more ratings.

Can anyone throw out some recommendations for other bands which trade in this brand of wistful, understated pop perfection?
Real Estate comes close to the particular rainy-day melancholy I'm after, but I'm looking for a new fix.

bust 'em green by henry's dress, today by galaxie 500, you forgot it in people by broken social scene...

...dunno. i reckon alvvays are the only contemporary guitar pop band worth bothering with to be honest.