Niklas Pivic

For me, it's hard to not see this album as an elevation for a survivor of sorts. Cave's two sons have died and I can't understand the depths of those sorrows; I've experienced visceral and all-consuming sorrow in different ways, but I feel—and I may very well be wrong about this—that Cave's spiritual sides have grown beyond that of the christian concept of God, into something that I identify as unitarian universalist.

The first half of the album uses Cave's voice as that of a gospel preacher, rhythmically and repetitively, throwing his audience into a trance. The addition of a gospel choir in a few places doesn't hurt.

I dig how the drums sound as though the mics… More

This may sound contrite, but I'll say it anyway: the unreleased Steve Albini version of this album, recorded in 1997, is excellent. A sheer power-pop masterpiece. Some of the songs just bleed fun and love for music. Every single bit is lovely.

On the "Rockline 2003" show, someone called in and asked the band for the history behind this disc, and Bun E. Carlos gave the explanation. The "In Color" album was produced by Tom Werman, but the band always felt that Werman screwed up the album. "He made it safe for radio, but the album sounds like it was done in a cardboard box." So, in 1997, they were in the studio hanging around with Steve Albini and had… More

I wrote this a couple of weeks after the album was released:

Alvvays' third album is their best yet.

In a couple of weeks, I've played this album over twenty times. Yeah. It's that good.

Alvvays don't shy away from their influences—The Smiths, shoegaze stuff, twee indie bands—but they bring great songs to the table, songs with odd chord changes, loads of melodies, no show–offy shit but rather a communal sense of wanting to do whatever makes the best song, and more melodies. I love the fact that they're using two different singers. And synths. Reliable drums. Great guitar sounds and riffs. This is some fun and great shit. I feel that Alvvays have feared nothing while… More