Despite spiraling through different situations for the past five years, the band yanks itself to fuzzy, noisier territory in Blue Rev. Their splashiest to date, Alvvays saturates their dream pop hues and propels them higher. It may sweep all over the place, but it still holds the tunes and emotions together marvelously.
While it may not look as much, the 5-year wait of Alvvays third record firms the chaotic textures in their splashy world of jangle pop and dream pop. After almost a decade as a band, they have put out two records under their belt that fizzles through jangle pop and dream pop for the new generation that is getting into this style of music. For the most part, they haven’t really disappointed with their sparse body of work, where the popping guitar riffs and drum passages barrel through with jangling orbs of energies that are accompanied even further by Molly Rankin’s sweeter vocals and the pleasant atmospherics that makes their self-titled in 2014 and antisocialites in 2017 so easy to get back to. But what is even more captivating besides the dreamy haze of the debut record and the sunny throttle of the sophomore record is their writing, exploration of relationships and traditional roles with a snark sense of wit from a band that keeps on growing and maturing as human beings. However, the trek towards the new record is met with some issues, factoring in disasters from their gear getting flooded in their basement, getting their demos stolen, and border issues coming from the COVID-19 pandemic are major haphazard for any band to deal with that might possibly compromise whatever quality is put on their upcoming record.
Amidst all of that, Alvvays staggered through. In ‘Blue Rev’, the band ripples through a splashier production palette that they have not touched before and shelving out their most colorful array of songs to date. The presence of Shawn Everett in the production as well as the newest bassist Abbey Blackwell and drummer Sheridan Riley help stir Alvvays new set of sound, where more chaotic and noisier textures harpoon through the mix alongside winks of psychedelia allow the band to explore in a haphazard set of melodies, tones, and structure. It’s a step that only pushes their sound to bigger heights, and Blue Rev is no joke in pushing the ground for the band.
With the production now going for chaotic and blissful avenues, it brings Alvvays musing of relationships and environments in a tangled manner. ‘Pharmacist’ calls this out immediately, opening the song with Molly Rankin’s sweet vocals amidst the accelerating guitar riffs, stomping drum patterns, and solemn synthesizers. It muses on the memories of Molly’s hometown that the song pulls up and how things have now changed with time. The crashing breakup situation of ‘After The Earthquake’ is further thrusted with the developed drum and bass lines, shoegaze-smothered guitar effects, and vocal melodies that soar through. There’s a mix of contrast in the progression with glossy synth cooldowns on the one hand and blistering rhythm sections on the other, allowing such lines as “Why would I ever fall in love again / When every detail is over the guardrail?” shake the ground open where the breakup will soon take place. ‘Pressed’ takes cues from The Smiths from its poetic takes on reflecting a past relationship, all with robust guitar and bass lines as well as sparking drum loops. The reflection of character through the passage of time in ‘Many Mirrors’ puddles through dreamy vocal swoons, crisp drum lines, and blemished guitar and bass riffs. It never falls off from its tone, further piercing through the end with a noisy guitar solo and the dreamy vocals picking up more power. ‘Velveteen’ showcase a prickly situation of infidelity in the relationship, complicating the partner’s inner thoughts. That dream-pop sweetness collapses itself, where the stomping drums, gleaming guitars, and rumbling bass lines are pillared with the saturated synth textures. ‘Belinda Says’ goes into a similar trajectory, knitting jangle pop with chaotic noise rock textures with great results. Contemplating through where things might lead with a positive outlook, accompanied by sweet synths and strings, crisp percussion lines, and rowdy noise from the guitar melodies.
They still retain the thoughtful edge that makes their material always crystallize. ‘Easy On Your Own?’ explores adulthood and the struggles within it. That struggle pummels through with the vocals ringing itself louder, surfing through robust bass, guitar, and drum progressions with a chorus that sticks every time it goes off. The neo-psychedelia on ‘Tile By Tile’ accentuates the inner reflections of love. It’s blaring in a good way, with the pristine synths amidst the simple drum loops, bass lines, and strings blasting through with grandeur. The energetic rocker ‘Pomeranian Spinster’ picks up the most chaos to spill out brash and selfish auras, not giving a damn about what others have to say and just do what people want to do in their life. It coats that energy with accelerating noisy guitars and rumbling drum loops, boosting Molly Rankin’s vocals that lean on brash expressiveness as she sings throughout the track. ‘Bored In Bristol’ leans into subtle jangle pop cues, embracing a submerged mix from the robust bass melody, synthetic drum patterns, and softer synthesizers that get bigger and louder towards the end. It directs itself on doing whatever needs to be done just to get out of the city, reflected further with lines like “If there's a role, I'll play it” and “Bored in Bristol, always waiting”. And ‘Lottery Noises’ reels back into blissful synth touches, only switching to the crisper percussion patterns playing along the jangling guitar and bass melodies as the vocals strengthen themselves more at the very end. It pulls off a confidence in taking chances on love, “Take another shot” as it says in the chorus.
Alvvays deliver their usual potency that has been reflected in their past records before, but the shift of sound is not that may stick to most. It’s colorful and splashy, but the chaos in the mix will not always translate to some people. Yes, the sound mixing is incredibly haphazard from track to track, where the vocals, drums, and guitars are most affected by the splashier soundscapes that Shawn Everett provides. The album sequencing can be messy from section to section and there are tracks that don’t stick out the way they should have, like the neo-psychedelia online dating concept of ‘Very Online Guy’ with its unflattering vocal twists and sound mixing that gets too loud, the direct confrontation of a partner on ‘Tom Verlaine’ have a nice tune albeit the instrumentals overshadow each other to a blur, and ‘Fourth Figure’ with its sweet romantic refrains albeit abortive length could have been stretched out longer to conclude the record on a strong note. But even with that, the tunes and the writing back up its intended mix and stylistic shifts. Justifying the changes and the conflicts that Alvvays need to grapple and parse through, even if the answers may not always be simple and the voices may be hemmed in with the chaotic sound drops. It enhances the sonic and thematic experience that ‘Blue Rev’ sinks into, where the rough edges and structure of the mixing and pacing accentuate that resonance even further.
With changes still on their minds, they eventually swim through its currents with a step in sound and tunes that overall makes the record really exhilarating to replay time and time again. ‘Blue Rev’ may be filled with spikier and inconsistent edges in Alvvays small yet sweet dream pop stills, but the band is able to use it to their advantage. And with their past two records exploring similar themes as this record, this record imbues those explorations of those feelings with the scope of an adult maturing through tougher conflicts and finding solace in reminiscing and examining the changes within. Those tangents display that we all are growing and feeling certain kinds of feelings that Alvvays writes in wit and charm, with waves of crashing textures and melodies drowns them into noisy and blistering avenues that make it all immediate. Changes may be complex and overwhelming to think through, yet there is a brief space where those thoughts will soon clear themselves out and pave a way for an answer. Alvvays are aware of this too. With ‘Blue Rev’, it might not give a definite answer but it does leave out something to hold onto. To quote a line in ‘Fourth Figures’, “Know that I still wait for you”.
Favorite Tracks: Pharmacist, Easy On Your Own?, After the Earthquake, Pressed, Many Mirrors, Velveteen, Tile By Tile, Pomeranian Spinster, Belinda Says, Bored In Bristol, Lottery Noises
Least Favorite Track: Very Online Guy