Pitchfork reviews the new Alvvays track, “Pharmacist,” which is their first in 5 years. The band sounds like they’ve developed a fascination with shoegaze, with enough glide guitar to make Kevin Shields jealous.
“Pharmacist” is overblown in all the right ways, with all the meticulously layered noise growing into a thicket around Rankin’s tender nostalgia. “It’s alright, I know I never crossed your mind,” she concludes. After this brutally honest admission, Alvvays burn through the end of “Pharmacist” with a flurry of distortion, sonic immolation at its finest.
The last 30 seconds of the track showcase a squealing guitar solo that rides atop the noise and then breaks down, Sonic Youth style. The burn down is satisfying in its totality. The video is more of a showcase for the audio than a proper video, but after half a decade of absence, I’ll take it.
