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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!)

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Glad you liked Antisocialites as well! I was pretty dang happy with that one at the time, but Blue Rev is really something else. I can't get enough of 'Magic Mirror'!

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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!

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It’s that anxiety inducing time of year where I’m narrowing it down to 50 albums and looking like the Larry David gif weighing each one. This year I did a spread sheet with everything new I listened to with the idea of staying ahead of the game… I gave up in March 🤷‍♂️ As far as Alvvays, this record has to be huge - they’ve taken their pop formula and really filled out the sound. So good!

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