THE SPILL MAGAZINE ARTIST PORTRAIT:
ALVVAYS
Reverb-drenched and bittersweet, Alvvays members Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan were childhood friends, who began playing music with Alec OβHanley while in high school. Lead vocalist Molly Rankin is the daughter of John Morris Rankin from the popular Canadian folk family group the Rankin Family. Molly Rankin released a solo EP titled βShe EPβ in 2010 and then in 2011 formed Alvvays with MacLellan, OβHanley, and new members Brian Murphy and Phil MacIsaac.
Following tours with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Peter Bjorn and John, the group recorded a full-length album, Alvvays, which was released by Royal Mountain Records (Canada), Polyvinyl Records (US), and Transgressive Records (Europe) in July 2014. Chad VanGaalen, John Agnello, and Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck all contributed to the albumβs production. Simon Vozick-Levinson, writing in Rolling Stone, called the eponymous album an βindie-pop wonderβ. Alvvays went to #1 on US college charts on August 5, 2014.