Adult Diversions

Most Canadians know all about The Rankins. The Nova Scotians come from a family of 12 siblings and their folk family group is well-acclaimed. John Morris Rankin, a large piece of The Rankin Family group, died in an accident when his daughter Molly was only a pre-teen. Today, Molly is fronting her own group of indie rockers called Alvvays. Although they’re many miles away from any surf-able ocean in Toronto, it sounds like they’re havin’ some fun in the sun on their debut Alvvays.

The main single of this release is “Archie, Marry Me,” which comes accompanied with a music video shot looking like it was made 20 years ago and features the group mostly on a boat or on the beach. Lyrically, Rankin tries to convince her mid-20-something lover to, of course, marry her: “You’ve expressed explicitly your contempt for matrimony / you’ve student loans to pay and will not risk the alimony… take me by the hand and we can sign some papers / forget the invitations, floral arrangements and bread makers.”

There are parts in “Ones Who Love You” that sound like a blatant Best Coast rip-off, especially with all the “ooo”-ing, and the same goes for “The Agency Group.” There are times when it seemed Bethany Cosentino was featured on the song. Best Coast manages to create the same type of music with just two people, though, not five, so these songs are a little more dense, and in the end Rankin’s vocals are slightly more drawn out and for the most part, lower.

Closer “Red Planet” adds slight diversity to the album with Rankin’s slower, sadder vocals and Kerrie MacLellan (an old friend of Rankin’s) standing out on keys, although she’s not doing anything particularly amazing.

Alvvays can be thrown into your latest music queue without embarrassment. It’s likely to be mistaken for some other sweet-sounding indie band, but that’s ok. Some reverb and lyrics that accurately describe the woes of the post-college graduate tend to be favored, and rightly so. In a world where we already have way too many surf-rock bands, Alvvays still manage to find room for themselves on the good end of the spectrum—even all the way up in Ontario.