Alvvays - Antisocialites (2017)
Artist: Alvvays
Author: Sarah
Date: 10/19/2024
Listen: Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify
In many ways, my junior year of college was most connected I've ever felt. Mostly, it's that it fell right in between the two phases of my time there (after I started making friends in my major but before I lost touch with the friends I had before that, in the brief moment in time where I felt relatively comfortable talking to new people). Less importantly, it's also the most connected I've ever been to what was going on in indie music (likely in part because of my position at the college radio station).
So of course, I was super hyped for Antisocialites. Who wasn't, at that point? Their debut was a bit inconsistent and occasionally sounded too flat, but with songs like "Adult Diversions" and "Archie Marry Me", everyone knew to expect big things. Many of you probably remember all of this, but please let me be a bit nostalgic here. The first two singles from this, "In Undertow" and "Dreams Tonite" ended up being their best songs to date, heralding a more polished and bigger sound. Nobody was blown away by "Plimsoll Punks" that I remember, but to me it was a sign that they weren't going to totally evolve out of the jangle pop that had initially drawn me to them.
Basically, the hype had built up to a point that you'd think the album could never possibly live up to. And yet, it absolutely did! I mean, "Already Gone" kinda sucks, but everything else here is absolutely perfect pop! It was my album of the year that year by a mile, and if it's not anymore, it's only because the elitist in me thinks she's too cool to have something quite so popular as her album of the year these days. I hardly even listen to it anymore these days, because again, it's hard to imagine that it could still live up to the hype I had for it back in 2017. But you know, I listened to it again earlier today, and it really does hold up! I'm actually not too cool to say that the album starting out with "In Undertow", "Dreams Tonite", "Plimsoll Punks", and "Your Type" is the exact type of thing I need. Still a shame about "Already Gone" though.