UMass Lowell Connector Logo

Speedy Ortiz Major Arcana a major hit

David Rudderham
Connector Staff

Massachusetts natives and local heroes, Speedy Ortiz, now has a music career quickly gaining momentum with the release of their debut full length LP, “Major Arcana.” Since it’s release on July of 2013, the humble indie rock group has toured the country, been featured in major music publications, and warmed the hearts of indie rock fans just discovering them.

They’re currently performing in England and this summer, will be touring in California alongside the infamous 90’s rock frontman, Stephen Malkmus, with his band Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. In interviews, Sadie Dupuis, the singer and guitarist of Speedy Ortiz, has emphasized her displeasure of being labeled a 90’s rock revisionist. After listening to the album I’ve recognized how one could fall into that trap of thinking. Simply put: it’s guitar driven music, and our generation has seemingly lost touch with it.

The first song of the album, “Pioneer Spine,” begins with soft guitar harmonics that slowly build into hard driven angled melodies that somehow doesn’t muddy up the song so much that Sadie’s voice couldn’t be the centerpiece of attention.

Her vague and beautifully unusual lyrics combined with the fuzz distortion saturated guitar tracks could make up an entire meal itself. But when that meal gets combined with the drums by Matt Falcone and bass by Darl Ferm, it begins to take on a life of its own.

Matt Robidoux, the other guitarist, has a style so impossible to understand or mimic that I barely have any words to describe it. If they ever get famous enough to be transcribed by adoring nerdy guitarists on online tab sites, Robidoux’s sections could just accurately feature the words “You will never be Matt Robidoux. Don’t bother.”

The second track, “Tiger Tank,” is hard hitting and is arguably the heaviest song on the whole album and this tone gets occasionally brought back into the rest of the other tracks in a tasteful way. The last track, “MKVI,” will also be exceptionally heavy for an indie song of this type but gets deconstructed at the end for several minutes straight that will pump your headphones full of enough guitar feedback that would make Hendrix jealous.

My favorite track is “No Below” and has already registered 37 plays on my ITunes and I got this album a couple of months ago. This song shows Sadie’s softer and poetic side that is perfectly matched to vocals so emotional you can hear her voice shaking.

Of course this track gets a little of the Robidoux signature deconstructionist treatment at the end but again, in a tasteful way. It makes it the most aesthetically pleasing track on the album but “MKVI” is the most interesting. “Fun” is a track appropriately labelled and has its place in my heart as my new philosophy on life. It currently has 28 plays.

By the end of the album I was convinced this work wasn’t an example of 90’s revisionism. No. Bands from the 90’s wish they were this good. It’s far too avant garde and rejects typical 90’s pop rock melodies in favor of a new type of melody that is more pleasurable to listen to.

This is what music from the Massachusetts indie rock scene sounds like. It’s closer to bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh than it is to Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins. Although in that regard, Speedy Ortiz still deserves their own category.