Alvvays - very online guy, 2022

“Very Online Guy” is a bit more of a departure from what we’ve come to expect from the band. The track sounds distinctly European, channeling strains of Italo Disco and French chansons, and it’s hard to tell at first whether Rankin is singing in another language."

Alvvays - many mirrors, 2022

"The whole album is fantastic, but the song ‘Many Mirrors’ had a pure, adventurous energy to it that really resonated with me."

Alvvays - dreams tonite live, 2017

"Dreams Tonite" forms the basis of the album's "fantasy breakup arc," with the protagonist questioning whether or not they would still be attracted to their significant other if meeting in the present, rather than the past. The song first became a part of the group's live setlist in early 2016. The band debuted the song online as a pre-release single for Antisocialites on July 25, 2017. The band promoted the song with a performance on CBS Sunday Morning in the U.S. "Dreams Tonite" became one of the band's most popular tunes; as of September 2024, the song has over 105 million streams on Spotify."

Alvvays - pharmacist live, 2023

"It feels like so many similar "guitar-dream-pop" artists end up just going "pop" before long, so I appreciate Alvvays sticking to their noisy, shoegazey guns, at least on this track."

Alvvays - in undertow live, 2017

"I was wobbling along a shore picking up stained glass, which is just something I really love. I have many glass bottles of it in my apartment of all different colors and I kind of just came up with the melody."

Alvvays - not my baby, 2017

"Alvvays bumps it up a notch on the stereo with the release of their sophomore album Antisocialites. Their sound grew spunkier, as they begin to experiment further with motion and variety within each song. An especially driven song from the new album, “Not My Baby,” tells the story of heartbreak and the inconsistent feelings that come after. “Not My Baby” has an urgency not seen before from the Canadian indie-pop group. Racing rhythms coalesce exciting melodies, all charged by the song’s empowered lyrics. However, what really brings this song to the listener is the variation — fast to slow, flowing to sharp, loud to soft. People can connect to this inconsistency, because that is what the twirling and changing emotions of a break-up feels like. All of this beautifully chaotic musical construction is reflected throughout the lyrics, like the lovely line “Traded my rose-colored shades for a wide lens” and the play on the word “silence” as all the instruments cut out. Ultimately, the song frees you with fading melodies and echoes, sending you off in a soul-surfing bliss as you leave that ex (you know which one) in the dust."

Alvvays - the agency group, 2014

"It’s a song that I heard when I was with some friends of mine and I suddenly realized the song is about friends that get high and pass the time together sometimes. Like, a group of people who don’t quite know how to react around each other or how to adjust to their emotions about each other. So they take drugs to vibe like that’s how they get on each other’s level. Like, life is a huge game of being together but not being together. That’s why the people in the song are weird about the way they feel about each other."

Alvvays - atop a cake, 2014

“Atop A Cake” sounds like a cross between Real Estate’s “Days” and Nina’s “99 Luft Balloons”. It’s a beautiful combination, in case you were thinking otherwise."

Alvvays - tile by tile, 2022

"It was my song of choice today. I listened to it A LOT. By nature I enjoy melancholy, nostalgia, wistful, or songs of longing or sadness. I really love this song. Love the instrument choices for this one and the melody is very haunting."

Alvvays - lottery noises, 2022

"So what is the song "Lottery Noises" about? Because when I first listened to it all I could think is that it's literally about someone lost in the woods who gets found. Weird I know, but this is from the same band that wrote "Next of Kin." I'm probably wrong, and it doesn't really fit with what I understand the other songs in the album to be about."

Alvvays - archie marry me, 2014

"Archie, Marry Me" is a song by Canadian indie pop band Alvvays. It was released on April 6, 2013, as the lead single from the band's eponymous debut album (2014). "Archie, Marry Me" examines modern romance and traditional marriage, and touches on themes of commitment and financial stability. It was written by vocalist and guitarist Molly Rankin with guitarist Alec O'Hanley as a critique of the standard societal expectation that one is to marry upon entering adulthood. Rankin and O'Hanley were romantically linked, and had been collaborating for some time creatively. Then in their mid-twenties, they observed with derision friends quickly being wed. "Archie" was first developed during a period in which they lived on Prince Edward Island in a remote farmhouse. The song and accompanying album were produced by Chad VanGaalen, and recorded at his studio, Yoko Eno, in Calgary, Alberta. The song's lo-fi music video, filmed on a Super 8 camera, pictures Rankin at a wedding reception and sailing on the sea. "Archie" was the first song the band released; it debuted digitally via the band's website before the band was signed to a label. It was later released on Royal Mountain Records, in their home country. In the U.S. and Europe, it was distributed through Polyvinyl and Transgressive Records, respectively. Though it did not chart, "Archie" was considered the band's breakthrough hit; it grew in popularity in the mid-2010s on streaming services. Critical reviews of the track were very positive, praising its bittersweet tone and lyrical content. It was ranked on several best-of lists in 2014, and has been called a "indie-pop classic."

Alvvays - belinda says, 2022

"It's such a phenomenally efficient piece of storytelling and I think Molly is a really specific lyricist who works on her songs with the keen eye of an editor, so I was wondering if anyone else thought there was something very dark at the core of the protagonist's story. Lyrics seem to really focus on fear, guilt and shame. The singer has to leave town to have her baby, and when "word gets around" in the new town, she'll have to move again. Molly could have sung "See how it goes" twice but she sings "See how it grows", as if there is a chance that something may be wrong with the baby. And finally, heaven is a place on earth but "so is hell". Has anyone else pondered this or is it just me?"

Alvvays - party police, 2014

"It's so melancholic and yet has such a great groove. If ever my heart breaks, this will be one of the songs I turn to. Molly does such an amazing job capturing the desperation in the lyrics."

Alvvays - pharmacist, 2022

"The song's lyrics tell the story of unexpectedly meeting someone at a pharmacy. NPR wrote the lyrics are "short and memorable, but don't necessarily portray any one narrative". Loud and Quiet described the "vivid details" of the lyrics as creating a "beguiling short story".

Alvvays - dreams tonite, 2017

"For every song that asks the question, “What might have been?” there exists an equally stark reality, of “What wasn’t.” Alvvays’ new song “Dreams Tonite” looks at the liminal space between those two frames of mind, questioning the forces that separate lovers, be they self-made or circumstantial."

Alvvays - in undertow, 2017

"In Undertow is a breakup song, albeit one set in the moment when the tears have started to dry out and the voice begins to calm after all the fighting and the shouting."