Album Review: Alvvays

With the ushering in of the Spring season here in this gloomscape of Pennsylvania, I am reminded how necessary it is to have upbeat music supplement one's desperate crawl out from winter's cold rigor-mortis grasp. For myself, and I'm sure many others, music is a defining feature of any season. We tie memories to music, for better or for worse. For this sake, I urge you to start your Spring with the incredible Canadian indie rock band Alvvays and their debut self-titled album.

(pronounced "Always", idiot)

With the release of their LP in July 2014, Alvvays cemented themselves as another powerhouse of the legendary Toronto music scene. Hearing Molly Rankin's dreamy vocals overlayed on Alec O'Hanley's stylized guitar tones and combined with the trademark creative key-work of Kerri MacLellan, a universal sense of nostalgia is provoked.

To say this is a very "sunny" album would be both quite vague and quite precise. You won't get it until you hear it, and I feel like that's a lot of Alvvays's appeal. To know them is to love them. To not know them is a tragedy.

We'll go track by track for this review, listen along for a heightened experience! Disclaimer: these are my interpretations and observations of the music, I am not an authority on the band or intended meanings behind the songs.

Adult Diversion: Starting strong, a classic poppy rock tune; perfect for driving on a Sunday afternoon. Molly's clever, honest lyrics are delivered with a reverb that sounds like she's singing from one of those big creek tunnels from your hometown that you and your friends would walk through in the summer. Brian Murphy's bass jumps around and then runs like an old truck engine - that is to say, beautifully.

Archie, Marry Me: It would not be a stretch to call this the greatest Indie rock song ever made. The opening guitar strumming, paired with the ambient sound of birds chirping is, for lack of a more apt term, iconic. The juxtaposition between the clean and distorted guitars is masterful composition for a freshman album. Reminiscent of one Roddy Frame from days of yore. If you know one song from Alvvays, it's Marry Me Archie.

Ones Who Love You: Slowing down the pace from the first two tracks, Ones Who Love You is an aching indictment of that person you know who takes and takes from you and never gives back, and the song says "that's it, I'm done, I wash my hands of you." The song opens with a programmed drum loop and switches to live drums at the end of the first chorus, a very cool move on the production side. The repetitive, bobbing guitar riff forces you to nod along with the beat, and the tinny, high-neck playing during the chorus has a pretty sound.

Next of Kin: Picking the pace right back up, ironically, Next of Kin is a song about accidental drowning. The lyrics are tragic, almost disturbing, but delivered in a pop rock disguise. Yet another great Summertime track for your playlists.

Party Police: Synth strings never sounded so satisfying. This is definitely a "singing in the car with the windows down" track. An anthem for the lonely and longing, Party Police has the best chorus on the album, and that opening guitar riff is killer.

The Agency Group: Opening with an avant-garde grinding guitar feedback sound, then followed by a quaint, harp-like guitar melody, this song is beautifully minimalistic. The composition is simple and the track adds to the album's "long sunset" vibe.

Dives: Kerri MacLellan's synth work prevails again on this hauntingly unique melody. Dives really cranks that nostalgia valve in the brain. While the instruments walk down in the chorus, Molly's multi-tracked vocals create a very unique sound, an angelic sonic clash (can you tell I have a little crush on Molly yet?).

Atop a Cake: And we're back to that quick-pace poppy melody we've started the album with. This is one earworm you'll be happy to have ricocheting around your neural synapses all day.

Red Planet: In the album's waning minutes, we drift away from it all in this synth-laden finale. Very Thom Yorke-esque (or more so Jonny Greenwood), this track is just vocals, synth, and drumpad. The sun has set and now you're alone on the beach, the tide rolls up to your feet in the sand, and you're reminded that you can't go back to those childhood days. The first in a series of bittersweet endings that the band carries over into each of their three releases. Do yourself the favor of listening to them all.

I don't really see any point in spitting out some arbitrary number to rate a piece of art, but if you really NEED one, I'll oblige. I'd give this album a solid 8/10, all things considered.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I'm no critic or credentialized luminary, but sharing what I love with others is in my blood, and that's why I'm a journalist. See you again soon!

-Andersen Beck Founder, Reporter