As we enter the season for giving thanks, I for one am very thankful for all the fantastic female-fronted indie rock groups that have toured through Asheville in 2022, including the most recent appearance of Alvvays at The Orange Peel on Nov. 9.

I listen to all types of music, but if I have a type, it is that: an acerbic yet approachable female vocalist, sweetly singing — and sometimes screaming — lyrics that can make you laugh or leave a bruise, backed by jangly guitar, cathedral keyboards, and bass and drum that remind us it’s rock ’n’ roll. And I’ve gotten to feast on my favorite dish numerous times in this city during this calendar year.

Some people like to drop names. Well, I like to drop shows, so get ready because I’m about to drop a bunch of them on you. It started with Courtney Barnett in late January at the Peel. She set the bar high, and I don’t think any of the other female indie artists who played here came close to clearing it. For me, that show was as good as Jack White’s September performance at Rabbit Rabbit in terms of the quantity of quality songs sung in a signature vocal style by a genuine star.

Then there was the unmistakable charm of Mitski in mid February, also at the Peel. I had no idea she had fostered such a teen-girl following until she played the first few notes of a favored song and screams bellowed out like we were at a BTS show.

I also liked how Lucy Dacus sounded when she played that same venue a few weeks later. I just wish that I’d literally gotten to see more of her. The singer/songwriter had pulled a disc (maybe two) in her back and had to play laying down on a divan to minimize the pain. Her efforts were herculean, but I was still frustrated for us shorter people at the show that we couldn't really see her. Has no one on her crew ever teched for a fringe fest in a warehouse space? Just put that fainting couch up on a few risers for all to see, and your sightline problems are solved.

Soccer Mommy in March at the Peel — hmm, sensing a pattern here — was a solid show, too. Getting to see her play “Circle the Drain,” a quarantine anthem for me, was super satisfying, but that was a show where I noticed it’s not enough to play your songs — you need to perform your songs. At this show, Snail Mail in May (guess where?) and then Beach House in July (ha! This one was at Rabbit Rabbit which, shoot, is also co-owned by the Peel…), I was impressed by the talent on display, but wondered why more of the show didn’t match the higher gear that was hit in the encore, both by the band and the crowd. Let's start at the encore and then climb from there.

Aldous Harding, the slender singer/songwriter from New Zealand, gave me one of my favorite live performance moments of the year at her show in June (yes, yes). She is engaging with a beautiful voice, but a bit peculiar in a performance art sort of way. At one point in the show, the laptop that was orchestrating all the sequencing of the songs crashed. She didn’t wish to wade into the waters of winging it, so she stood quietly on stage for several minutes, waiting for the computer to reboot. Uncomfortable with the awkward silence, someone in the always chatty Asheville crowd shouted out, “Tell us about your day!” — to which Harding leaned into the microphone and volleyed back in a low voice, “Noooooo.”

Two female-fronted shows from this year that featured good songs but even better performances were Beach Bunny in May and Chvrches in late July (guess where?). Beach Bunny vocalist/guitarist Lili Trifilio is not nearly as cutesy as her band name or her video persona for songs like “Prom Queen” would suggest. She had a surprising punk rock spirit about her on stage, at one point coaching the crowd to create a mosh pit and putting it in motion with her poppy power chords. And Chvrches has more of a slightly operatic synth-pop sound than I tend to listen to, but the Scottish trio’s set of songs steadily swelled with energy and theatrics so that by the encore, vocalist Lauren Mayberry stood swaying in the spotlight in a ”Final Girl” T-shirt, covered in stage blood. No wishing we had found a different gear sooner here!

And so, it’s my penchant for this particular sound that first alerted me to Alvvays back when Pandora picked up on what kind of bands I consistently thumbs-upped, and wisely dropped the band’s 2014 breakthrough single, “Archie, Marry Me,” into my rotation of songs. I remember coming in from the other room, clicking off the small bouncing-box album-cover screensaver so I could see what song this was and who sang it. “Alvvays.” I’m in!

Alvvays drew well for a Wednesday night with an eager, good-looking crowd that knew the band well enough to be backup vocals on more than a few songs. Even though the Canada-based rockers have been around for more than 10 years, getting their start in 2011, they only have three albums in their library: their self-titled debut album (2014), Antisocialites (2017), and Blue Rev, released in early October of this year. I’m sure the pandemic had something to do with the delay between albums — as did losing some material to theft and flood, but this band clearly likes to put some thought into its music before releasing an album. Nevertheless, Alvvays has, well, always liked to tour — and it shows. There’s a lot to like about this band, including their extremely likable stage presence.

It all starts with its musical center, Molly Ranking, who started the set with “Pharmacist,” the lead track from Blue Rev. (Bonus point for naming the album after the band’s favorite Canadian alcopop drink.) In the song, the lyrics mention seeing your sister at the pharmacy, and Molly reminds me of your sister’s best friend: the one who was in a band that of course you wanted to go out with but, even more, just wanted to hang out with because she was so casually cool about it all. And yes, that aspirational friend is pretty, but that's not the point. There’s more going on here. Short with shoulder-length blonde hair, Ranking does not dress like a rock star, instead rocking a vintage ’90s Gap sweater with the midriff stripe that continues across the sleeves.

With “Pharmacist” and subsequent selection “Earthquake,” also from Blue Rev, she’s telling stories that you want to listen to, and paired with instrumentation that you want to move to, like a good, early Go-Go's song. Next was “In Undertow” from Antisocialites. As the album title suggests, and that song in particular conveys, the focus is about avoiding social interactions. “Meditate, play solitaire, take up self defense,” Ranking sings — but she’s more playful than angry about it, embodying an almost pop-punk Tommy James and The Shondells sound.

I like that her band isn’t more interesting or attractive than she is, except for maybe guitarist Alec O’Hanley (more on him in a second) — but just slightly less so. In sitcom casting, it’s standard that the supporting cast, except for maybe the spouse, not be more attractive than its featured star so we know where to focus. O’Hanley is good at the swirly guitar stuff and good looking enough (like Fred from Scooby-Doo, but with dark hair) that you can’t help but wonder if maybe he and Ranking are an item.

Spoiler: They are. I like that. And I like that the librarian-looking keyboardist, Kerri MacLellan, and Ranking have been best friends since they were kids, writing songs together when they were next door neighbors in Nova Scotia. Somewhat recent additions, drummer Sheridan Riley (who joined in 2017) and bassist Abbey Blackwell (2021), complete the all-brunette backing band and help to ensure that Alvvays maintains its intensity, playing each song with a palpable importance.

And I like that the musicians waited until about halfway through the set to play “Archie, Marry Me.” They didn’t lead with it just to get it out of the way. And they didn’t hold it until the encore so that every song played before just seems like mere preamble. They don’t have to hold out for one hit song, because they have more than one to play, including “Dreams Tonite” and “Not My Baby,” and other hits-in-waiting from Blue Rev, like the aforementioned “Pharmacist,” plus “Tom Verlaine” and “Very Online Guy.”

If you couldn’t tell, I liked this show. There was a lot to like. But on the flip side, I didn’t love that Alvvays only played two songs for the encore. I’ve come to expect longer encores in the post-quarantine times. You don’t even need to leave the stage, but hang on for a handful of more songs. And I didn’t love that the set lasted less than 75 minutes, encore included.

But when I looked back at the setlist, I saw that they played some 20 songs, most of which were first-rate. So if my one criticism is that I wish it kept going, that’s the sign of something good.

Rankin is a major talent and Alvvays is a band to appreciate for the few albums that it’s put out and to enjoy live as the players continue to tour — which they’ve done whenever they could since they first formed the band over 10 years ago. They rocked the stage in their relaxed way at their pivotal Coachella debut in 2016, and they continue to do so in 2022. And they are yet another terrific female-fronted indie rock force that I was lucky enough to see live in this city that continues to spoil me musically.

(Photos by Justin Bowman)