The Highly Anticipated 'Blue Rev' by Alvvays Is an AOTY Candidate
The Canadian band is back after five years and better than ever. Plus, this week's Songs You Need to Hear Now playlist!
It’s crazy that we’re already moving towards the end of the calendar for new music releases and that I’ll have my year-end lists coming your way soon (revisit the top 10 for 2021 and 2020 here)! While this week’s playlist has the latest from Brothertiger, Weyes Blood, Alvvays, The Orielles, Mythic Sunship, Ryan Baine, and Luxury Noise, I am including some of my favorites from the calendar year. Memorable tunes from Garcia Peoples, Bonobo, Deserta, SASAMI, and Artsick are here to refresh everyone on what a damn solid year it’s been in music. I’ll continue to do this for the next several weeks in case you’ve missed out on a song you didn’t know you need in your life.
Listen on Spotify here
Listen on Apple Music here
After Nova Scotian indie pop outfit Alvvays released their second record, Antisocialites, in 2017, it seemed as if the band was ready to break into the mainstream with their perfected jangly shoegaze formula. The album would go on to win the Juno Award for Best Alternative Album, the ultimate recognition in their home country, while making a top 100 appearance on the charts both in Canada and the US. Antisocialites catapulted Alvvays into their most extensive tour yet, crossing North America multiple times. But instead, the deck has been stacked against them over the past half-decade, and five years later, their third album Blue Rev is finally here. These fourteen songs meet the hype as probably Alvvays’ best record yet, and after the long wait, it’s hard to believe that Blue Rev is the product of one fruitful single-day recording session because the album is so sonically impressive while demonstrating what makes them such a special band.
We’ve talked endlessly about how the pandemic affects musicians on many levels, but Alvvays’ tough times preceded the era. The band didn’t write new material on their epic tours, and a recorder of demos was stolen from singer and guitarist Molly Rankin’s apartment. To make matters worse, a flooded basement the very next day ruined most of the band’s instruments and equipment. During all of this, Alvvays also lost bassist Brian Murphy and drummer Chris Dadge, leaving the band without a rhythm section. Picking up new drummer Sheridan Riley while touring and bassist Abbey Blackwell was the step back in the right direction before pandemic border closures made it impossible for the band to get back together.
Cut to a year ago when the band headed to Los Angeles to work with producer, mixer, engineer, and fellow Canadian Shawn Everett. After all of the setbacks, the Grammy Award-winning Everett asked Alvvays to drop all of their plans and play straight through the songs found on Blue Rev. With fifteen-second breaks between tracks and a thirty-minute gap between the setlists, Alvvays laid down everything heard here by merely performing Blue Rev in its entirety twice. Acting essentially as a sixth member, Everett dug into the breakneck session and fiddled with the knobs to bring the album to life.
The result may not have the immediate hookiness of early hits like “Archie, Marry Me” or “Not My Baby,” but have no fear as Blue Rev is just as intoxicating as the caffeinated alcopop the album is named after. Molly Rankin’s voice still anchors this set of songs, but the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spirit suits Alvvays. Alec O’Hanley’s guitar melodies combine with Rankin’s rhythm parts to create an overdriven wall of sound on most of these tracks, sending the listener awash in a sea of distorted textures. Keyboardist Kerri MacLellan, the other piece to the remaining founding trio, deserves an award for “most improved.” MacLellan’s accents have always been a defining part of the Alvvays sound. Still, her stab at writing more, combined with Everett pulling her up in the mix, make her contributions undeniable, including the harmonies on “After the Earthquake.”
The secret sauce here is Riley and Blackwell, who add a fresh coat of pulsating paint to the slick Alvvays machine. Riley was already around when I saw them play in a Goodwill parking lot for the Underground Music Showcase in Denver over four years ago. Their energy gave a noticeable boost to the familiar indie classics from the band’s first two records, and the twosome slot perfectly into Blue Rev’s whirlwind attitude, even when the tempo slows down on new favorite numbers like “Many Mirrors” built around Riley’s swirling fills.
Coming back to Everett’s work on Blue Rev, I’m giving credit where credit is due. I’ve crapped on him often in the past few years, as he tends to gate and compress everything. It’s what held back The Killers on the decent Imploding the Mirage (snoozefest follow-up Pressure Machine wasn’t as much his fault). While I tolerated his approach on The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding, last year’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore clearly suffers from its mix when you hear the cuts from that record live. There are moments of these buildups that turnout flat on Blue Rev, but this is the most expansive Everett product in quite some time. “Velveteen” is a standout example, with MacLellan’s elevated synth work crossing into the heartland rock arena that Everett tends to gravitate towards. An unexpected pairing, Alvvays, and Everett work out pretty great here.
For someone like myself that is a massive Alvvays fan, Blue Rev is everything I want and more after waiting so long to hear new songs from them again. The singles from this summer, like “Pharmacist” and “Easy On Your Own?” offer the immediacy you want out of Alvvays, but hearing them in context with the rest of the record makes one realize how beautifully sequenced this album is as it flows from raucous shoegaze to searching midtempo mastery. My second most anticipated record of the year (numero uno belongs to Weyes Blood and you just have to hear “Grapevine” on this week’s playlist) and one that will end up towards the top of my year-end list, Blue Rev has me in full fever and looking forward to seeing how these songs translate live in Seattle in a few weeks.
In the words of Mr Bowie, "five years, what a surprise."
'Antisocialites' was one of my favourite albums of 2017 but somehow, in the long gap that followed, I'd forgotten all about Alvvays, until a few of the Substacks I follow (and trust) all started talking about 'Blue Rev' in AoTY terms.
I'm only one listen in so far, but it's already enough to make me feel guilty over abandoning the band. Too early to choose a favourite yet, though I'm always (excuse the pun) going to be a sucker for a track called 'Tom Verlaine'!
Thanks for reminding me (and while I'm on the subject, remember to check out my music themed novel at https://challenge69.substack.com - I know you and your readers would love it!)
Me in January: "I wonder what any sort of 'best of' list is going to look like?"
Me in October: "How am I going to pare this list down?"
At this point Blue Rev is a lock to make the cut ("Fingers Crossed" has a shot too, FWIW). It checks too many of my boxes not to. And that's coming from someone that was late to the party. I used to not like them a whole lot, but man have they grown on me!