14 TRIBAL CULTURE 21 SEPT 2017 REVIEWS ADD Alvvays never disappoints TO Formed in Toronto in 2011, recording, giving the vocals much Alvvays (pronounced Always) is more depth and clarity than an definitely a newer contender to the autotune backup. indie pop/rock scene. With a smash “Plimsoll Punks” is another QUEUE hit self-titled first album peaking at stellar track, and a perfect ex- number one on US college charts in ample for New Age dream-pop MOVIES 2014, it is no surprise that Alvvays’s sound. The guitars really pick up American Made (Sept 29): A pi- second album, Antisocialites, is a rhythm compared to the tracks lot lands work for the CIA and as smash hit full of well done songs and preceding it. In traditional dream poppy beats. pop fashion, the chorus is very a drug runner in the south during Antisocialites is quite different repetitive but catchy, with rough the 1980s. Tom Cruise stars. from Alvvays’s first album. The pro- rhythm and lead electric guitars. Flatliners (Sept 29): Five medical duction for this album has seeming- A final great song on the al- ly increased immensely, creating a bum is “Lollipop (Ode to Jim).” students simulate a near-death ex- completely different sound through- It’s another high energy track perience, giving them a firsthand out the album. Riffy, rough, electric much like “Hey” that tells a great account of the afterlife. guitars have largely been replaced by story of an LSD trip with a lover, Lucky (Sept 29): The spiritual more synthetic, dreamy tunes. singing “Alter my state to get Lead singer Molly Rankin’s vo- through this date.” journey of a 90-year-old atheist cals are put more in front than in Al- This album is truly one of grappling with mortality. vvays; the drums sound much with the best dream pop albums to The Florida Project (Oct 5):A little to no effort, but somehow full have come out in recent years. precocious girl comes of age in the of emotion at the same time. with a quick bassline and extremely fuzzy rhyth- The sound signature of the guitars The rhythm instruments in the song jan- mic guitars and the processing of the song gives is unmatched in recent dream pop, and adds a shadow of Disney World. gle along nicely with Rankin’s vocals until the it a post-punk feel. Mac DeMarco-like twang to much of the songs, Blade Runner 2049 (Oct 6): Har- erupt into a controlled explosion of solos. Lyri- “Hey” feels like a montage of quick driving while still maintaining a sound quite different rison Ford returns for this sequel cally, it is a masterpiece; Rankin writes of failed scenes, up until the bridge. The bridge quiets from any Mac DeMarco track. This album is relationships and self-reliance, both common down the lead guitar so that only the rhythm leaps and bounds ahead of Alvvays, with huge to the 1982 sci-fi/thriller classic. themes throughout the album. guitar is playing and Rankin’s most emotional advancements in recording quality that make My personal favorite song on the album is singing on the whole album is put right up in the experience of listening to such a great band MUSIC “Hey.” “Hey” mainly stands out in the album as much more enjoyable. your face. The track is also highlighted with Tell Me You Love Me Demi it has a sound unlike any other Alvvays song, melodious backup singing done via multi-track --Jack Rogers Lovato (Sept 29): The emotional new album from one of pop’s most ferocious voices. Younger Now Miley Cyrus (Sept Voices from the inside 29): The ex-Disney Channel star Gritty. Dark. Terrifying. gle bond: a want, rather, a need to escape the returns to country twang, with North Korea. system and society that had failed them. just enough leftover wackiness. A place where a wrong word, a misplaced Demick’s account of daily life in North Ko- Colors Beck (Oct 13): This stylis- emotion or even a glance in the wrong direction rea exposes some of the nation’s dirtiest secrets, can end you, your children and your children’s including its disgusting lack of medical sup- tic leap from atmospheric folk to children in a work camp for your entire lives. plies, the mistrust and fear that runs rampant EDM-tinged bubble pop is unsur- Published in 2015, Barbara Demick’s among neighbors and family members and a prising from this versatile artist. Nothing to Envy explores the lives of ordinary lack of food so severe that parents and grand- people in North Korea through interviews with parents starve themselves to give their children MASSEDUCTION St. Vincent several expatriates who left behind their fami- even just a fraction of a chance of surviving. (Oct 13): After flirting with fame lies and homes to escape the totalitarian regime Illuminating, provocative and tear- (and a celebrity fling), this vir- of the Kim family. wrenching, Nothing to Envy is a gripping exposé Running from oppression, turmoil, scarci- of one of the most prominent -- and mysterious tuoso guitarist shreds through her ty and hardship, these brave people left behind -- countries in the world. most personal album to date. loved ones, jobs, possessions and almost every --Patrick White Mr. Davis Gucci Mane (Oct 13): other worldly comfort they had ever known. The 11th studio-album from one Whether a doctor, kindergarten teacher, government zealot or common street thief, each of the most prolific rappers of the individual interviewed by Demick shared a sin- 21st century.