Alvvays

Recorded in March 2013 at Chad VanGaalen's studio, Yoko Eno, the album used VanGaalen's guitars for added distortion and reverb. Rankin called the experience colorful and engaging, and VanGaalen suggested the band devise a name so that Rankin would not be taken for a solo singer-songwriter. Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck helped with tracking, John Agnello mixed it in Brooklyn, and Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone mastered it at Sterling Sound. The cover is a 1968 National Geographic photograph by Helen and Frank Schreider of schoolgirls in Tehran.

Rolling Stone's Simon Vozick-Levinson gave it four stars and called each of the nine songs a sharply drawn indie-pop wonder, steeped in romance, wit and melody. The Guardian's Lanre Bakare found a lack of variety but named closer Red Planet among its great moments. It scored 78 on Metacritic, reached 107 on the UK albums chart and 12 on the US Heatseekers chart, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.