''Antisocialites'' is the second studio album by Canadian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band Alvvays, released on September 8, 2017, through

Polyvinyl In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted vinyl () monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Examples Vinyl polymers are ...

, Royal Mountain,

Transgressive Transgressive may mean: *Transgressive art, a name given to art forms that violate perceived boundaries *Transgressive fiction, a modern style in literature *Transgressive Records, a United Kingdom-based independent record label *Transgressive (l ...

and Inertia.

Recording and production

According to frontwoman Molly Rankin, ''Antisocialites'' was recorded using a combination of

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

and a

TASCAM TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo Japan. TASCAM established the Home Recording phenomenon by creating the "Project Studio" and is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first casset ...

488 8-track recorder.

Music

Tim Sendra of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that "the sound of the album is bigger and the arrangements fuller and more spacious, giving the instruments room to breathe." Steven Edelstone of ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

'' opined that "by adding a warm

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

sheen," the band "managed to make their

jangly Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound typically characterized by undistorted, treble (sound), treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly twelve-string guitar, 12-strings) played in a drone (music), droning chord (music), chordal style (by strummi ...

guitars seem even lusher."

Critical reception

''Antisocialites'' received positive reviews from critics. In a review from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', critic Marc Hogan praised the album as being "thoroughly accomplished". Several critics noted that the album was darker than the band's 2014 debut -- ''

'' writer Steven Edelstone found the band's comparatively more serious lyrical content as "uneasy", but still a "record that begs to be blasted on road trips and at rooftop parties", while Mike Katzif of

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interpreted the album's lead track "In Undertow" as a "darker spiritual sequel" to their 2014 breakthrough single " Archie, Marry Me". Canadian music magazine ''

Exclaim ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' ranked ''Antisocialites'' as their #1 album in their 2017 year-end list of pop and rock albums, drawing attention to the album's songwriting and "plain and simple" approach.

Accolades

''Antisocialites'' won the

Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year The Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year is presented annually at Canada's Juno Awards to honour the best album of the year in the alternative rock and/or indie rock genres. The award was first presented in 1995 under the name Best Alternati ...

in 2018."Junos 2018: the complete list of winners"
''CBC News'', March 25, 2018 The album was also a shortlisted finalist for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize."Polaris Music Prize Reveals 2018 Short List"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', July 17, 2018.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes. Alvvays *Kerri MacLellan –

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, vocals *Brian Murphy – bass, guitar *Alec O'Hanley – guitars, vocals, Realistic, bass,

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, artwork, mixing *Molly Rankin – vocals, guitars, fiddle, artwork *Chris Dadge – drums, percussion Additional musicians *Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg – drums *Jeremy Gaudet – guitars *Isaac Takeuchi – cello * Norman Blake –

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

, vocals Technical and artwork *

John Congleton John Congleton is a grammy winning American record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band The Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project entitl ...

– recording, production *Celso Estrada –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*Tyler Karmen – engineer *

Marta Salogni Marta Salogni is an Italian record producer, mixer and recording engineer. Background Salogni's musical background was cultivated in her native Italy between the small town of Capriolo and Brescia, where she spent her formative years, collabo ...

– engineer *Alex Gamble – engineer *Graham Walsh – engineer *Kenny Meehan – engineer *Matt Estep – mixing *Justin Nace – additional mixing *David Ives – mastering *Anthony Stewart – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Alvvays albums Polyvinyl Record Co. albums Transgressive Records albums Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year albums Albums produced by John Congleton Albums recorded at Tarbox Road Studios Albums recorded at Kingsize Soundlabs