‘Violent Side’: Alvvays on their favourite Neil Young song
Ever since their breakout in the mid-2010s, when ‘Archie, Marry Me’ became one of the most defining indie anthems of the era, Alvvays have been an essential cornerstone of the genre. However, for the Canadian band, a critical cornerstone of their artistic identity rests on the legacy of their homeland’s favourite son, Neil Young.
As a country, Canada’s musical history is rich. Not only can the country boast the birth of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and more, but they’re all artists who seem more than comfortable and competent when it comes to experimentation. All those legends I just listed refused to stick to one shape. Mitchell morphed from a confessional folk star into a complex, jazz-informed musician. Cohen balanced music, novel writing and poetry with ease. As for Neil Young, he’s still working today, adding new songs to his discography that are a far cry from his earlier works in Buffalo Springfield or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
For Alvvays, even though they were decades removed, that legacy seems to run through their blood. Even though their debut self-titled album and their 2017 follow-up, Antisocialites, established them as stars of the indie scene, their most recent effort, Blue Rev, offered up a more expansive sound. As they merged strains of indie, rock, pop and folk, the legacy of the Canadian icons they grew up with seemed to find its way in.
Talking to The Line Of Best Fit about Young and Gordon Lightfoot’s impact especially, singer Molly Rankin called them “pillars of Canadian music”, claiming that “most children listen to them in their households growing up as they’re artists that everyone can agree on.” However, the track she picks out as her favourite of Neil Young’s songs isn’t one that fosters mutual agreement. Instead, her choice is more left-field with her selection of ‘Violent Side’ from his 1986 album Landing On Water.
“He got a fair amount of flack for this specific record and this song,” Rankin said, but she doesn’t agree with that. Instead, to her, the response was merely a case of collective caution that often comes when a musician switches things up. “I feel like sometimes when artists step outside of their comfort zone there’s a reaction to recoil and resent,” she said.
But she’s a fan of the change. “There’s some really neat songs on this album. I think he was getting into Devo and Kraftwerk and really weaving that in,” she said of his expanding influence. However, even if those flavours aren’t to a listener’s taste, there is an undeniable greatness that will always follow a legend like him. As Rankin puts it, “Neil’s supposed worst is a lot better than most people’s best.”
All in all, whether the song is considered ‘good’ or ‘bad’, Rankin simply commends Young for his continued sonic adventuring. “He was very brave to try things, and that’s all you can really do when you’re creating,” she said, with that being perhaps the best advice or attitude any artist could hold.
