Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit (2023) Hi Res

Sadie Dupuis has some demons to exorcise on the fourth album by her band Speedy Ortiz (the first in five years, after she took a break to release her Haunted Painting solo record as Sad13). "Stole my split necklace half to see where I'd help you go/ The other piece, it doesn't fit where I hoped," she sings of best friend betrayal on "Plus One," itchy with searing guitar and a funk-cool drum break. "Scabs" dominated by off-kilter guitar elbowing its way in features the line "Who do you wanna prove you're a big dog to?/ You turn the screw, but you're using the wrong size tool." (Dupuis has the right one, though; the song absolutely skewers the object of her annoyance.) And "You S02" is about an unnamed music hero of Dupuis' whose work she loved only to meet them and discover "gear-grinding ugliness," she has said. It's no small claim to say your acolyte/ Is a voice in your head you drown out when your work's not sitting right/ Falling in love with LA/ Where the cars cut you off from the right lane," the multi-layered vocals chime sweetly, as bitter, Veruca Salt-style guitars burn. The song is also a nod to a dark series about a serial killer: "In the TV show You's second season, the main character moves from New York to LA in hopes of a fresh start, but (spoiler) remains a murdering psychopath," Dupuis has said. "Changing cities won't make you a hero if you still treat others badly." But Speedy Ortiz is capable of changing up their quirky guitar rock. "Ranch vs. Ranch" starts out like doom metal, then slinks and slithers like Garbage. "Brace Three" channels a '90s grunge ballad, dark and gnarled, with a gauzy breakdown that builds to a windstorm. "Cry Cry Cry" feels exposed, stripping down co-producer Sarah Tudzin's (Illuminati Hotties) layers for a minute even as menacing guitar stalks. And "Ghostwriter" flexes muscle, its joyride guitars swerving and sliding happily as Dupuis shrugs, "How to grow up? Lately I don't really push much."