Alvvays
Blue Rev
Release Date: Oct 7, 2022
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Polyvinyl
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Album Review: Blue Rev by Alvvays
Fantastic, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 10/10
The world is accelerating. That's a phrase I keep skim-reading in newspaper columns, scrolling furiously past on social media feeds and hearing in podcasts (2x speed naturally). It's why people barely listen to albums—and certainly don't read album reviews—anymore. The generic modern-day consumer has the attention span of a distracted gnat and is always on the hunt for the next thing, or so we're led to believe.
Based on rating 8.5/10
It's always a little concerning when a critically lauded band pretty much disappear from view. But beloved Canadian indie-poppers Alvvays hadn't expected their third album, Blue Rev, to take five years. Indeed, they'd already started demoing new tunes soon after releasing their acclaimed second album, 2017's Antisocialites. Then they were hit with a series of unfortunate events.
Based on rating 4
A more muscular sound and a line-up change marks the welcome triumph over adversity that is the Torontarians’ third record It’s been an eventful five years for Alvvays, the Canadian band responsible for one of the very best songs of the decade in Archie, Marry Me. This third album has been a long time in the making, and the band have had to contend with line-up changes (the old rhythm section of Brian Murphy and Phil MacIsaac have been replaced by Abbey Blackwell and Sheridan Riley), the theft of a collection of demos from lead singer Molly Rankin’s home, and a flood which nearly ruined the band’s equipment. Oh, and a certain global pandemic also happened.
Opinion: Excellent
Between 2014's eponymous debut and 2017's 'Antisocialites', Canadian indie darlings Alvvays are proficient in the art of making effervescent, rollicking anthems. Their first two records were almost algorithmic in their mastery of archetypal bubblegum indie rock, leaving them with a reliable discography of dreamy and wildly popular, though uniform, tunes. In the five years since their monumental sophomore album, however, the quintet took a step back from their methodical prudency and approached 2022's 'Blue Rev' with a freer spirit.
'Blue Rev'
is available now