page_title: Alvvays
section_title: Formation and early years (2011–2015)
hierarchical_section_title: Alvvays / History / Formation and early years (2011–2015)
caption_attribution_description: English: Canadian ban Alvvays performing at the 2014 Hillside Festival
context_page_description: Alvvays is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 2011, originating from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. It consists of Molly Rankin, Kerri MacLellan, Alec O'Hanley, Brian Murphy and Sheridan Riley. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2014, topped the US college charts. Their second studio album, Antisocialites, was released on September 8, 2017 and would go on to win the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Both albums have been short listed for the Polaris Music Prize.
context_section_description: Alvvays was formed in Toronto. Molly Rankin, the group's singer-songwriter, is the daughter of John Morris Rankin, a fiddler with the Celtic folk family collective the Rankin Family, who enjoyed international success in the 1990s. Rankin grew up in Judique, Nova Scotia writing music with her neighbour, keyboardist Kerri MacLellan. She later met guitarist and partner Alec O'Hanley at a concert in her teen years. With the help of O'Hanley, Rankin quietly released a solo extended play titled She in 2010. Alvvays was formed the following year, with Rankin assembling MacLellan, O'Hanley, drummer Phil MacIsaac and bassist Brian Murphy to join the group. As the band grew up on neighbouring islands—Rankin and MacLellan on Cape Breton and O'Hanley, MacIsaac, and Murphy hailing from Prince Edward Island—Rankin was led to dub the band "merging of obscure islands in the east coast." She picked the name Alvvays because she liked that it had a "shred of sentiment and nostalgia." The spelling of the band name was due to the fact that there was already a band named Always signed to Sony.
  They often made the long drives from Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island to Toronto, where they all eventually moved and secured jobs that allowed them to tour occasionally. The group toured extensively as supporting acts for bands such as Peter Bjorn and John and The Decemberists. Their debut album was recorded in Calgary with Chad VanGaalen in March 2013; Graham Walsh helped track the album while John Agnello helped mix it. After the album was complete, the group made cassette copies for festival bookers and fans at concerts to pass around. 
  Alvvays were signed to Polyvinyl Records on the strength of their SXSW performances and online response to the demo of their single "Adult Diversion". The album Alvvays was released by Royal Mountain Records (Canada), Polyvinyl Records (US), and Transgressive Records (Europe) in July 2014. Simon Vozick-Levinson, writing in Rolling Stone, called the eponymous album an "indie-pop wonder". Alvvays went to #1 on US college charts on August 5, 2014; in November that year they performed in Los Angeles with another Canadian band,  Absolutely Free.
  "Archie, Marry Me" became a minor hit. The single for "Archie, Marry Me" featured the b-side "Underneath Us" which was recorded sometime after the eponymous album.
  The group toured heavily in support of their debut, including slots at Glastonbury 2015 and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2016. In addition to album material, Alvvays often performs cover songs of artists such as Kirsty MacColl ("He's on the Beach"), Camera Obscura ("Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken"), The Hummingbirds ("Alimony"), The Primatives ("Crash"), and Deerhunter ("Nosebleed") among others.
  The debut album was nominated to the shortlist of the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. They performed at that year's gala with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
caption: Alvvays performing at the 2014 Hillside Festival
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