Category: Albums

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Best albums of 2022: #2 Alvvays “Blue rev”

Much has been made about the length of time that has passed between the second album by Alvvays (pronounced ‘Always’) and this new one. Indeed, five years is an eternity in the music world in this day and age, what with trends whipping by at a torrid pace and viral videos and music streaming. And yet one can’t help but refrain from laying blame, what with the events of the past few years, and those being especially pronounced for the Toronto-based indie pop band. In addition to plagues, they’ve had to overcome thefts and floods and changes in personnel, but luckily for all of us, they seem to have come out of this period of quiet all the better for it.

I’ve been following the group led by long-time friends Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan, as well as Alec O’Hanley, since the appearance of their self-titled debut back in 2014. I loved the dreamy bursts of sunshine indie pop on the album, the jangly nostalgia, and the youthful maturity of songcraft therein. The follow up was more of the same in taste and texture but showed a progression worth following. Much of this third record, which takes its name from a beverage favoured by the two lead protagonists in their even younger youth, was written shortly after the original touring cycle for “Antisocialites”, around the time that Sheridan Riley joined them on drums and long before Abbey Blackwell replaced founding bassist Brian Murphy. With all the delays, they really did have a fully formed idea of the album when they finally convened to record it in the fall of 2021. My understanding is that it was recorded in much the way you can hear it on the record, front to back, twice through, in one day, but that the mixing and perfectionist refining afterwards took much, much longer.

“Blue rev” is quickly becoming my favourite by the group, if it hasn’t yet achieved that honour. It goes far beyond the borders of their original pigeon-holed territory of light and jangly indie pop and at the same time, doesn’t betray it’s long-time fans. It’s noisier, louder, longer, smarter, more assured, and lots of fun. Like the previous album on this list, I have a new favourite track on the album every day and I expect that to continue as each listen reveals new layers and textures and lyrical gems to behold. The three tracks I’ve picked for your perusal were almost selected at random. Really, you could do no wrong with any track here.

“After the earthquake“: Track three on “Blue Rev” was inspired by a short story collection by excellent Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. It is three-minutes reminiscent of The Smiths but with sharper teeth, spikier hair, and more anger than mopery. It’s a remembering of good times before disaster struck and nothing was the same. And just before the two-minute mark, time stands still and Rankin murmurs and wonders aloud wrapped in a gentle synth wash: “Those days, I’d never let you fall apart. But things fade like the scent of a brand new car. Why would I ever fall in love again when every detail is over the guardrail?” It’s heartbreaking.

“Pharmacist”: The opening track and first single has been called their My Bloody Valentine song. At just over two minutes, it’s shorter than anything (save for maybe “Touched”) on “Loveless” but it’s not any less immediate. The moment the heavy layer of guitars are plopped down in the lap of the otherwise jangly palette, you feel that nervous anxiety put forth by Rankin’s  meeting up with the sister of her ex. “I hear it happens all the time. It’s alright (it’s alright). I know I never crossed your mind.” She sounds reliable and reassuring and then, any questions are put to rest by a flailing guitar solo, as if to say, pay attention, we’re not done with you yet!

“Very online guy”: One of these songs is not like the others. Where the other two were more aggressive and heavy on the noisy guitars, this last pick mines the impersonal and cold tones of 80s synth pop. It’s almost a perfect backdrop to which to set a calling out on reply guy culture and the nastiness of hiding behind the anonymity of ones and zeroes. “He’s only one flicker away. He’s only one photo, one filter away.” Even Rankins’ vocals are obscured and filtered through technological trickery, adding more fun to the chugging beat and sentient synthetic ambience. Brilliant stuff.

We’ll back in two more sleeps with album #1. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Blushing “Possessions”
9. Just Mustard “Heart under”
8. Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”
7. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”
6. Tallies “Patina”
5. Suede “Autofiction”
4. Wet Leg “Wet Leg”
3. Beach House “Once twice melody”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

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Albums

Best albums of 2022: #3 Beach House “Once twice melody”

Way back in the late spring of 2007, I saw Beach House open for The Clientele at a tiny club called Babylon (which sadly closed during the pandemic). I had thought their self-titled debut, released the year prior a pleasant enough listen, so I was more than happy to go early to catch their set. Unfortunately, though, the duo didn’t make as huge an impression on me as a live band as The Clientele at the time. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally seemed talented enough but it was hard to see longevity in their effortless, languid, and hazy sound. And yet, here they are, fifteen years and seven albums later, this last one an epic, double album that grips hard on the attention and doesn’t let go.

For me, Beach House finally found their footing with their third album, 2010’s “Teen dream” and they haven’t looked back since, honing their dream pop craft, expanding upon a sound, a single note and breath, and blowing minds all along the way. Each of the albums since then have been masterpieces in their own right, even when they released two albums within five months of each other back in 2015, each shone in its own personality and spotlight.

Their eighth album comes five years after their aptly named 2017 album, “7”, the longest wait between albums that their fans have had to endure thus far. And listening to the album, you can sense the time and the percolation that has gone into it. “Once twice melody” has the feeling of a best of compilation, songs that we have had lasting relationships with, despite them all being brand new compositions. It is intense and full and heavy and our protagonists are well aware of what they are serving us, choosing to serve it up in chunks. The four chapters (or four sides) of the eighteen-track album were introduced a piece at a time as EPs, once a month starting in November of last year and culminating in the final collected work receiving its official release in the middle of February of this year.

All told, “Once twice melody” has the power lull one to sleep, invoke memories, and create the emotional responses akin to those felt when falling in love. The tracks are all brilliant when taken separately but as a whole, they are unstoppable. I feel that most would have their own favourite songs and my own change upon my changing of moods, and these three that I’ve picked for you are just those that tickled my fancy on the day that I decided this album would be on my year end list.

“Over and over“: “The night, that has no end (over and over)… will be the last, my friend… over and over…” This seven minute explosion closes chapter two, feeling like a direct response to Depeche Mode’s “Waiting for the night”. It explores a time and place between the late hours of night and early hours of morning, between waking and dreaming, when angels croon and demons scream. It is magical and wondrous personified. It is white and black and pink. Just close your eyes and float to the energy.

“Masquerade”: “She comes dressed like Sunday, string of pearls around her neck, room of mirrors, days of lace, porcelain and picturesque.” The gongs and walls of wash hint at a dark and demonic Cinderella ball. The “Masquerade” here, like many of the other polaroid snaps on this album, feels very surreal, rife with dry ice and fog, images perceived but not truly seen. It feels sinister but not deadly. The dance partners twirl and bow, play their part, smile and nod, and at the end, the emptiness and sadness pervades.

“Hurts to love”: Chapter four is the finale and track three feels like the perfect climax. “Hurts to love” was released as a standalone single on Valentine’s Day and because of this, it feels like a thesis statement, a call to arms, a raison d’être. It is a fireworks of guitars and synths and Victoria Legrand wooing the world and explaining the meaning of life. “If it hurts to love, better do it anyway.” It is a song for repeat listens, from earphones to dancefloors to pounding speakers. It is the sound of pounding hearts and fluttering eyelids, the feeling of passionate lips, and a glimpse of tear filled eyes. It is love and it should not be ignored, nor taken for granted.

We’ll return in just two more days with album #2. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Blushing “Possessions”
9. Just Mustard “Heart under”
8. Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”
7. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”
6. Tallies “Patina”
5. Suede “Autofiction”
4. Wet Leg “Wet Leg”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2022: #4 Wet Leg “Wet Leg”

I generally feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the comings and goings and new releases of music, especially when it comes to the alternative and indie realm, but I’m obvious not omniscient. Every once in a while, something slips through on first pass and “Wet Leg” is a perfect example of one of those parties to which I arrived unfashionably late. Indeed, I hadn’t heard of them at all until the week of their self-titled debut’s release and I started seeing tons of hype all over the music sites and pictures of the album’s cover and vinyl pressing on the various vinyl-loving pages I follow on Instagram.

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers are long-time friends who decided to form as a duo in 2019 after years of miring in relative solo musician obscurity on the Isle of Wight. They’ve given a handful of differing reasons as to why they settled on Wet Leg as a moniker but the version I believe or want to believe the most was as a constant reminder to not take themselves too seriously. They signed with Domino Records in late 2020 and recorded the aforementioned debut in the spring of 2021.

A couple of months after the album was finished, Wet Leg released the first advance single and really, their first ever single. And yeah, it went viral, racking up millions of streams in its first year. With the second single almost as successful, it was unsurprising that the music machine started to take notice. “Wet Leg” was finally released a year after it was recorded and was preceded by five singles in total. It debuted at #1 on the UK and Australian record charts and performed well in pretty much every major market. It was nominated for the UK’s Mercury Prize and for a handful of Grammys in the US.

The first time I streamed it, I did so with a dubious ear, but one that quickly melted to the glee that many other music fans have obviously experienced. There’s something universal in their sound, which is probably why I’ve seen them classified as everything from punk to post-punk, from garage rock to britpop, and from new wave to slacker rock. The duo is original and exciting, but given their quick ascent in popularity, they are already treading the fine line of darling and derision. All eyes and ears will be on whether they can properly follow this up but for now, we can appreciate the debut as pure fun and folly.

Indeed, there’s plenty to like here but there’s no arguing with the three singles I’ve picked for you to peruse, just in case you (as I almost did) have missed out on Wet Leg thus far.

“Too late now“: The third single and last track on the album has a rumbling bass line and chiming guitars that keep time with Teasdale’s shifty vocals. It feels at first like it’s got it all together, albeit insular and atmospheric, but little by little, its insecurity shows and by the end it’s a shambolic mess. “Down we go while holding hands. If I fuck this up, I’m taking you down with me.” It’s feedback and hammering drums and chaos and I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Wet dream”: Working backward through their singles, track five reminds me a bit of Goat Girl, who were a surprise entry on my end of the year list last year. It’s a bass groove that flirts with Blondie and The Go-Go’s but is perhaps more overt in its sexuality and its refusal to play and accept its role. “What makes you think you’re good enough to think about me when you’re touching yourself?” But in spite of its knowing side glances and sly winks, it is at its heart, a great pop song and has the potential to fill dance floors everywhere.

“Chaise longue”: Here’s the big one. The ear worm. The song you want to hate but can’t help but love. You listen to it over and over and find yourself singing along to that damned repetitive chorus. “On the chaise longue, on the chaise longue, on the chaise longue. All day long, on the chaise longue.” Fast and frenetic and hyperventilating. One could almost imagine Justine Frischmann singing it with her band Elastica back in the mid 90s. It’s no wonder it’s gotten so much play.

We’ll be back after the holiday with album #3. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Blushing “Possessions”
9. Just Mustard “Heart under”
8. Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”
7. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”
6. Tallies “Patina”
5. Suede “Autofiction”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

And finally, for those who celebrate, best wishes to you, your friends, and your families for a very merry Christmas.