Alvvays – Blue Rev Review

Immediately present in this latest release from Alvvays is a cohesion and progress. Blue Rev is not comfortable being a continuation of the good but arguably under-baked shoegaze sophomore efforts of Antisocialites. Instead, Molly Rankin and company head back to what made their self-titled debut work, and work from there. It is not a step back, but a sidestep into something new, something exciting. Blue Rev is an interesting work not for where it finds the band, but for how they process their consistency for engaging with the broad strokes of indie pop. To do so successfully, the band deploy a range of instrumental choices that provide fluid motion to the often-moodier tones of the genre.

Bouncier and vibrant not just with its album cover of cloudy skies and colourful clothing, Blue Rev open on a tremendously memorable beat that pushes back the slower tropes of shoegaze. Pharmacist adapts to a great range of instruments, a powerhouse in its own right that would set the band apart immediately from the other contemporary artists vying for attention. Easy On Your Own? adds to that, floaty vocals oversee a tightly-made production of the upbeat, jangle-pop-like second track. Alec O’Hanley’s guitar stands out amid a sea of mixing strides, often varied and convincing in its pacing shifts. There is always interest underlining these tracks, that is the convincing, appealing part of Alvvays as a unit for the modern pop genre. Those The Smiths-style sounds rattle through a little too close to home for After the Earthquake, but Rankin’s vocal presence is enough to steer Alvvays back on the right track.

Where that track leads after such a strong third album is somewhat unknowable. There are moments where Alvvays’ natural experimentation starts to slip into a space between R.E.M. and The Coral. But for the sake of not comparing a band to another band, Alvvays are creating the jangle pop the genre is currently lacking. It is vaguely spacial and aware of that, slightly off-kilter in the right way. It clicks well, and tracks like Tom Verlaine push Alvvays forward as a band not intent on repeating the highs of the genre. Truly unique in all the right moments, from the pitch of their pacing to the tonal style of their floaty, ethereal lyrics. Never languid or feeling the exertion of the horrid world around them, Alvvays press on with a stretch of tracks that extract the listener from their place in life and elevate them, however briefly.

But in charting a new dawn for the band and a push toward the shoegaze side of their genre placement, Blue Rev accidentally places the band closer to the Johnny Marr guitar of jangle pop and the floating, dreamscape essence of Beach House. Faster in pace than the latter, identical and innovating more than the former currently is, Alvvays find themselves at a good place musically and creatively. That much shows on The Smithsy influence of Pressed or the typical internet retro wave inspiration of Very Online Guy. Yet those moments are worth it not just because they are enjoyable but because they hide the perfect likes of Tile By Tile or the collective sounds of vaguely recognisable riffs and bars, turned on their head and made into something great.