Background
Alvvays emerged in the early 2010s as an outfit for singer-songwriter Molly Rankin. Rankin's father fronted the Celtic folk collective the Rankin Family, which enjoyed international success in the 1990s. She released an extended play, She, in 2010, with partner Alec O'Hanley assisting. As her writing style evolved, the duo shifted towards writing with a band in mind, with O'Hanley increasing his involvement in songwriting. They recruited her childhood friend Kerri MacLellan as keyboardist, as well as bassist Brian Murphy, and drummer Phil McIssac. In 2012, they relocated to Toronto, and supported acts Peter Bjorn and John and The Joy Formidable on tours; they began road-testing certain songs, including "Archie", at these concerts.
The song—as well as Alvvays' self-titled debut LP—was recorded in March 2013 at Yoko Eno, a studio in Calgary, Alberta owned by musician Chad VanGaalen. The team sought out VanGaalen due to his work on the Women record Public Strain (2010). They utilized VanGaalen's guitars for added distortion and reverb. Rankin called the experience "colorful and engaging" in an interview, noting that VanGaalen was an interesting host and complimenting his percussive suggestions. Drums on the track were handled by Eric Hamelin, best-known for his work with Ghostkeeper. VanGaalen suggested that they devise a band name for the project, predicting Rankin would be subject to singer-songwriter connotations if not. The group created the monkier Alvvays, a play on the word always, which Rankin liked because of its sentimental quality. Holy Fuck's Graham Walsh assisted with tracking at his studio, Basketball4Life, while veteran engineer John Agnello served as mixer. The album and song were mixed at Agnello's Brooklyn space, Music Valve Studios. O'Hanley earnestly e-mailed Agnello, requesting his involvement, to which he agreed. The album was mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound.