Speedy Ortiz’s “Real Hair” Melds Brains With Brawn

Test Ticker

Please support Mother Jones with a year-end donation. The truth is, we're a long way from our $600,000 goal, and we have to get as close as we can by Tuesday so we don't have to make hard decisions come January. If you value our reporting, please consider pitching in today.

$600,000

We still need to raise 400,000: Whether you can give $5 or $500, it all matters.

Please support Mother Jones with a year-end donation. We need to raise $600,000, or get as close as we can, by Tuesday so we don't need to make hard decisions come January. Whether you can give $5 or $500, it all makes a difference.

Courtesy of Carpark Records

Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.

Speedy Ortiz
Real Hair
Carpark

Undaunted by heavy, heavy guitars and thrashing drums, loquacious Sadie Dupuis issues a steady stream of dense, intriguing lyrics with poised resolve on this exciting four-track sequel to Speedy Ortiz’s stunning 2013 long-player Major Arcana.

Adept at playing the unreliable narrator, she offers tantalizing glimpses of lives in flux, murmuring, “I don’t know whose call it was that I should share a life/With someone who resembles me and copies my speech,” in the track “Everything’s Bigger” and singing sweetly, “They say I am a spoiled mess/I never fold up what should fold/And shine much better in my house alone” on “Shine Theory.”

While smart-but-rowdy bands like the Pixies and Breeders remain obvious touchstones for the Northampton, Massachusetts, quartet, Speedy Ortiz has forged its own distinctive identity, melding brains, brawn, and a dash of eccentric magic in impressive fashion.