Blue Rev

Alvvays' second album, Antisocialites was released in 2017. Afterwards, the band went on an extensive tour across North America and Europe, as well as often supporting the National on their tour dates. They began writing songs for Blue Rev almost immediately after the release of Antisocialites, but several events occurred which delayed the progress of the album: a thief broke into lead singer Molly Rankin's apartment and stole a recorder with several demos contained on it, and the day after, a basement flood threatened to destroy all of the band's gear. The COVID-19 pandemic then created further delays, with border closures preventing the band from rehearsing as a full group. They eventually reconvened in October 2021 in a studio in Los Angeles with producer Shawn Everett; they then went on to play all of Blue Rev front-to-back twice in a single day, with 15-second breaks between songs and a 30-minute break between full album takes. Blue Rev is named after Rev, a Canadian alcoholic beverage. ==Music==

"Pharmacist" balances the band's signature indie-pop sound with prominent shoegaze elements, including guitar distortion and "dreamy" vocals by Molly Rankin. Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork compared the song to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Other musical influences include Morrissey and the Smiths ("Pressed"), Belinda Carlisle ("Belinda Says"), Teenage Fanclub, and Yo La Tengo. The short story collection After the Quake by Japanese author Haruki Murakami inspired the lyrics of "After the Earthquake". ==Promotion==

Blue Rev was announced on July 6, 2022, alongside the release of the lead single "Pharmacist". The second single, "Easy on Your Own?", was released on August 10, 2022. "Belinda Says" and "Very Online Guy" were released as a double single on September 22, 2022. The final single, "After the Earthquake", was released on October 5, 2022. ==Critical reception==

Blue Rev received widespread acclaim from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on 15 reviews. and was shortlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. "Belinda Says" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Year-end lists ==Track listing==

• On all physical releases of the album, "Fourth Figure" is present but not listed on the tracklist. ==Personnel==

Alvvays • Molly Rankin – vocals, guitar • Alec O'Hanley – guitar, keyboards, bass • Kerri MacLellen – keyboards, vocals • Sheridan Riley – drums • Abbey Blackwell – bass Additional musicians • Chris Dadge – drums • Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg – drums • Drew Jurecka – cello, viola • Joseph Shabason – flute, baritone saxophone • Phil Hartunian – guitar Technical • Shawn Everett – production, mixing, engineering • Molly Rankin – production • Alec O'Hanley – production, mixing, engineering • Stephen Koszler – additional engineering • Phil Hotz – additional engineering • Robbie Lackritz – additional engineering • Nyles Spencer – additional engineering • Julian Decorte – additional engineering • Amy Fort – additional engineering • Ivan Wayman – additional engineering Artwork • Scott Fitzpatrick – design, layout • Molly Rankin – design, layout • Alec O'Hanley – design, layout • Janet Vanzutphen – photograph • Nora MacLeod – additional work • Kerri MacLellen – additional work • ConcernedApe – Video for "Many Mirrors" ==Charts==