Originally written by Robert Leedham · 8 December 2014
Alvvays are a band we've fallen for hard this 2014. Their self-titled debut album had us swooning in appreciation when it was released in July, and it stuck around in our affections to score very well in our forthcoming DiS Albums of the Year list.
Then there's 'Archie, Marry Me'. Our Song of the Year is smart, funny and not at all about lead singer Molly Rankin wanting to get hitched.
"A lot of people think I’m putting myself out there to be married," she told us in a DiS Does Singles takeover. "Like begging to be married."
Now that's cleared up (again) for all eternity, we asked the Toronto five-piece to share their favourite songs of the year gone. Read on for the band's verdict on the indie-pop outfit's verdict on Taylor Swift, Angle Olsen, Ariel Pink and more.
Molly Rankin
Todd Terje
Johnny & Mary (Olsen Records)
Maybe it's a no-no to include a Robert Palmer cover in a year end playlist but I'll fight for this one. Bryan Ferry's voice is like an artefact and everything else floats around it perfectly. Caution: not for the recently dumped.
Taylor Swift
Style (Big Machine Records)
The chameleon coat fits Taylor so well. On 1989 she funnels lots of current pop favourites - Haim, Robyn, Tegan & Sara, Lana Del Rey, Drake, etc. It also highlights a more cool, confident persona than we're used to hearing.
Alec O'Hanley
Real Estate
Talking Backwards (Domino Records)
We're abject suckers for pushing those pop buttons, like when the lyric pace doubles up in the last chorus here. Or when you play some beautiful guitar over more beautiful guitar. Or when you make futility sound so breezy.
Lykke Li
Gunshot (Atlantic Records)
Observe poor Lykke exorcise the ghost that got away over a devastating slab of relationship rock. I listened to this twenty times in a row when gunshot.co appeared out of the static. Stark imagism, jarring snare shots, the explosive chorus, it'll keep killing me.
Kerri MacLellan
Nap Eyes
No Fear of Hellfire (Bandcamp)
This is a band we all really like who are also from the east coast of Canada. Really poetic lyrics and I think they sum up what's going on in Halifax right now for anyone who wants to go digging.
Angel Olsen
Forgiven/Forgotten (Jagjaguwar)
This song kind of reminds me of old Liz Phair demos, it's very charming and cool.
Brian Murphy
Ariel Pink
Put Your Number In My Phone (4AD)
This song starts with a great mixolydian chimey guitar riff. The verse and chorus melodies are effortless and as hook-laden as anything to come out this year. The bridge shows Pink's comedic side.
Sharon Van Etten
Every time The Sun Comes Up (Jagjaguwar)
This song has a perfect bassline and the 'shit in your bathroom lyric' is a great counter attack on hypersexualization of women in the music industry.
Phil MacIsaac
The War On Drugs
Red Eyes (Secretly Canadian)
This tune gets in by virtue of me listening to it a billion times.
Eagulls
Tough Luck
This is everything I like in a song rolled into one.