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Alvvays (album)

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Alvvays
Studio album by
Alvvays
ReleasedJuly 22, 2014 (2014-07-22)
RecordedMarch 2013[1]
StudioYoko Eno (Calgary, Alberta)
Genre
Length32:55
Label
ProducerChad VanGaalen
Alvvays chronology
Alvvays
(2014) 		Antisocialites
(2017)
Singles from Alvvays
  1. "Archie, Marry Me"
    Released: April 6, 2013
  2. "Adult Diversion"
    Released: October 28, 2013
  3. "Next of Kin"
    Released: July 21, 2014
  4. "Party Police"
    Released: February 23, 2015

Alvvays is the debut studio album by Canadian indie pop band Alvvays, released on July 22, 2014, by Polyvinyl, Royal Mountain and Transgressive. The album yielded four successful singles, the first two, Adult Diversion and Archie, Marry Me brought the group to prominence in indie pop. The album was met with critical acclaim, regarded as one of the best albums of the year and being shortlisted for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.[2]

Background

[edit]
O'Hanley (left) and Rankin (right) on tour in 2014

Alvvays emerged in the early 2010s as an outfit for singer-songwriter Molly Rankin. Rankin's father fronted the Celtic folk collective the Rankin Family, which enjoyed success in Canada in the 1990s.[3][4] She released an extended play, She, in 2010, with partner Alec O'Hanley assisting. As her writing style evolved, the duo shifted towards writing with a band in mind, and O'Hanley increased his involvement in songwriting.[5] They recruited her childhood friend Kerri MacLellan as keyboardist, as well as bassist Brian Murphy, and drummer Phil MacIsaac. In 2012, they relocated to Toronto, and supported acts Peter Bjorn and John and The Joy Formidable on tours; they began road-testing certain songs, including "Archie", at these concerts.[6]

The album was recorded in March 2013 at Yoko Eno, a studio in Calgary, Alberta owned by musician Chad VanGaalen. The team sought out VanGaalen due to his work on the Women record Public Strain (2010). They utilized VanGaalen's guitars for added distortion and reverb.[7] Rankin called the experience "colorful and engaging" in an interview, noting that VanGaalen was an interesting host and complimenting his percussive suggestions.[5] Drums on the track were handled by Eric Hamelin, best-known for his work with Ghostkeeper. VanGaalen suggested that they devise a band name for the project, predicting Rankin would be subject to singer-songwriter connotations if not.[7] The group created the moniker Alvvays, a play on the word "always", which Rankin liked because of its sentimental quality.[5] Holy Fuck's Graham Walsh assisted with tracking at his studio, Basketball4Life, while veteran engineer John Agnello served as mixer.[8] The album and song were mixed at Agnello's Brooklyn space, Music Valve Studios. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound.

Musical style

[edit]

The album has been described as Indie pop, dream pop, indie rock, and jangle pop. It has also been described as being influenced by C86, bedroom pop and twee pop, while Rankin has noted personal influences such as The Magnetic Fields, Teenage Fanclub, Dolly Mixture, The Smiths, Celine Dion, Pavement, The Primitives, Oasis[9][8] and Australian indie-pop group The Hummingbirds.[10]

Release

[edit]

Two singles were released before the album, Archie, Marry Me on April 6, 2013 and Adult Diversion on October 29, 2013. The album was released on July 22, 2014. Around the time of the album's release, Archie, Marry Me became popular online, and would prove to be the band's breakthrough hit. [11]

The album would see moderate commercial success, peaking at 107 on the UK albums chart, and 12 on the US Heatseekers charts, but failed to be certified by either the RIAA or BPI.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[12]
Metacritic78/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)B+[15]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[16]
Exclaim!8/10[17]
The Guardian[18]
Mojo[19]
NME8/10[20]
Pitchfork7.6/10[21]
Rolling Stone[22]
Slant Magazine[23]

The album received acclaim from critics, and has a 78/100 on Metacritic, indicating "Generally favorable reviews,' according to 22 critics. Allmusic's Fred Thomas gave the album five stars and described it as, "a brief but bright collection of nine songs of nearly perfect, sugar-coated indie pop." Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone gave the album four stars, noting, "It’s a rare treat to discover a debut like Alvvays‘. Each of the nine songs on the Toronto band’s first LP is a sharply drawn indie-pop wonder, steeped in romance, wit and melody." Lanre Bakare of The Guardian was less positive, saying, "They certainly have their sound down (reverb-laced guitars, big choruses, surf-tinged moments), but there's a lack of variety here. Still, there are some genuinely great moments, including album closer Red Planet, on which the band move away from indie-rock and show they can splice synths with sadness."

Accolades

[edit]
Country Publication List Rank
Canada CBC Music 30 Best Canadian Albums of 2014[24]
1
US CMJ The 30 Best Albums of 2014[25]
20
UK NME Top 50 Albums of 2014[26]
29
US Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2014[27]
5
US Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2014[28]
36
US Time Out 20 Best Albums of 2014[29]
20

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Adult Diversion" (Rankin, O'Hanley, Brian Murphy)3:28
2."Archie, Marry Me"3:17
3."Ones Who Love You" (Rankin, O'Hanley, Murphy)3:47
4."Next of Kin" (Rankin, O'Hanley, Murphy)3:48
5."Party Police" (Rankin, O'Hanley, Murphy)3:48
6."The Agency Group" (Rankin, O'Hanley, Murphy)4:31
7."Dives"2:57
8."Atop a Cake"3:20
9."Red Planet"3:59
Total length:32:55
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Underneath Us"2:39
Total length:35:33


Personnel

[edit]
  • Molly Rankin – vocals, guitar
  • Alec O'Hanley – guitar, vocals, keyboards, drum machine
  • Kerri MacLellen – keyboards, vocals
  • Brian Murphy – bass
  • Eric Hamelin – drums (2, 3, 5, 6)
  • Chris Dadge – drums (1, 4, 8)
  • Chad VanGaalen – programming, tambourine, bongos

Production

  • Chad VanGaalen – engineering and production
  • Graham Walsh – tracking (additional)
  • Jeff McMurrich – tracking (additional)
  • John Agnello – mixing
  • Ian McGettigan – mixing (additional)
  • Alec O'Hanley – mixing (additional)
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Steve Fallone – mastering

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 107
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[31] 12
US Top Current Albums (Billboard)[32] 191

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "DIY, July 2014". Issuu. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  2. ^ "2015 Polaris Music Prize Short List Is Here". Polaris Music Prize, July 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Lucas, John (November 26, 2014). "Alvvays's Molly Rankin broke with family tradition". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved May 12, 2020..
  4. ^ Brad Wheeler (July 29, 2014). "Alvvays: 'Nobody talks about the adventurous kind of love'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Schiller, Rebecca (November 21, 2013). "Alvvays Singer Molly Rankin on Starting a New Band, Chad VanGaalen's Weird Studio". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Greene, Sarah (December 2, 2014). "Alvvays A Long Journey to Overnight Success". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Lau, Melody (December 3, 2014). "Alvvays: Jangle All the Way". Under the Radar. No. 51. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Rebecca Schiller (November 21, 2014). "Alvvays Singer Molly Rankin on Starting a New Band, Chad VanGaalen's 'Weird' Studio". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Ilana Kaplan (March 11, 2015). "SXSW Lone Stars: Alvvays on Archie's Identity and Scot-Pop". Spin. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Xiao, Alison (2023-12-11). "How an 80s Sydney band inspired Canadian indie pop darlings Alvvays". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  11. ^ Schlanger, Talia (September 8, 2017). "Alvvays On World Cafe". NPR. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Alvvays by Alvvays reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  13. ^ "Reviews for Alvvays by Alvvays". Metacritic. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  14. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Alvvays – Alvvays". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  15. ^ Christgau, Robert (February 20, 2015). "Robert Christgau: Expert Witness". Cuepoint. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  16. ^ Anderson, Kyle (August 1, 2014). "Albums: August 8, 2014". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  17. ^ Ritchie, Matthew (July 18, 2014). "Alvvays: Alvvays". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  18. ^ Bakare, Lanre (July 24, 2014). "Alvvays: Alvvays review – breezy, literate indie-rock". The Guardian. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  19. ^ "Alvvays: Alvvays". Mojo (250): 94. September 2014.
  20. ^ Renshaw, David (July 20, 2014). "Alvvays – 'Alvvays'". NME. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  21. ^ Berman, Stuart (July 21, 2014). "Alvvays: Alvvays". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  22. ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (July 14, 2014). "Alvvays". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  23. ^ Rainis, James (August 21, 2014). "Alvvays: Alvvays". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  24. ^ "Alvvays makes Rolling Stone's top 50 year-end chart". CBC News. December 5, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  25. ^ "The 30 Best Albums of 2014". CMJ. December 15, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  26. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2014". NME. November 27, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  27. ^ Josh Jackson (December 1, 2014). "The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Paste. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  28. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. December 1, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  29. ^ "The 20 best albums of 2014". Time Out. December 4, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  30. ^ Chart Log UK: "CHART: CLUK Update 2.08.2014 (wk30)". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  31. ^ "Alvvays Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  32. ^ "Alvvays Chart History (Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved January 16, 2023.


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