Alvvays
Alvvays
July 21 2014 (Transgressive)
8/10
Words: Alison Mack
Alvvays, alvvays, but pronounced “always” - well, at least it helps on a Google, apart from ensuring that band and name stick in your head. As indeed they no doubt will with this particularly impressive debut.
Fronted by Nova Scotian Molly Rankin with guitarist Alec O’Hanley, childhood friend Kerri MacLellan on keyboards, and Brian Murphy and Phil MacIssac on bass and drums, the quintet relocated to Toronto last year to work on this Chad Van Gaalen-produced debut.
There often appears a degree of blithe light-hearted whimsy, such as “How do I grow old with you even if you don’t notice as I pass by you on the subway?”, the question raised in summer surfy opener “Adult Diversion,” where Rankin plots her future with a fellow commuter; 'Archie, Marry Me': “Honey, take me by the hand, and we can sign some papers/ Forget the invitations, floral arrangements, and breadmakers.” Yet just as easily the tone can take a darker turn, such as on 'Next Of Kin', where we hear “I left my love in the river”, reflecting the death by drowning of a lost love.
From the indie guitar pop of ‘Atop A Cake’ and 'Party Police' to the hazy, dreamlike synths and shorewave sounds of 'Red Planet', it is a record that admirably juxtaposes different shades of the spectrum, and guarantees Alvvays a name to remember.
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