Northampton alt-rock wizards SPEEDY ORTIZ often get labeled as some sort of riffy ’90s throwback act, so its fitting they are among 10 bands contributing to And I Forgot A Long Time Ago How You Feel, a compilation paying tribute to the early recordings of dream-pop band THE LILYS, which sprang from the DC scene of the late-’80s and early-’90s, and in particular, the songwriting acumen of the nomadic Kurt Heasley.
The comp — crafted, curated, and to be posted for your downloading pleasures later today by the venerable Clicky Clicky Music Blog — also features tracks from New England’s Soccer Mom, Infinity Girl and Cuffs. But And I Forgot A Long Time Ago How You Feel isn’t limited to our ‘hoods and scenes, as the rest of the playlist stretches from Portland, Oregon (Lubec on “YCJCYAQFTJ”) to Richmond, Virginia (White Laces doing “Radiotricity”).
Speedy’s entry, the hypnotically droning “The Hermit Crab,” has an airy, detached cool to it, almost demo-like, and comes from the Lily’s’ 1995 SpinART Records release Eccsame The Photon Band. It’s a fairly faithful rendition, recorded by the band in Amherst back in February, and like most things in 2013, it’s made even better by the vocals of Sadie Dupuis, who credits 1996’s Better Can’t Make Your Life Better as one of her favorite records.
“During a bummer phase last year I listened to the last track on the CD, ‘Returns Every Morning,’ 10 times on repeat every day,” Dupuis tells Vanyaland. “Jay saw me post it on Facebook and asked about Speedy Ortiz contributing to this comp. I love Lilys, and Kurt’s melodic breeziness over excessive chord changes is certainly something I’ve tried to emulate in Speedy, but I’m not sure the rest of my bandmates are tremendously familiar. But the opening riff in “The Hermit Crab” seemed like something they’d be into. Little did we know JUST how many chord changes it would involve.”
This Lilys nod, in addition to the “Ka-Prow!”/”Hexxy” 7-inch they released in April off Inflated Records, serves as a nice teaser for Speedy Ortiz’s hotly-anticipated upcoming debut LP, Major Arcana, out July 9 via Carpark Records.
DOWNLOAD: Speedy Ortiz “The Hermit Crab” [mp3]
This is the second online release from the Clicky Clicky camp; a year ago, Jay Breitling and company released Nofuckingwhere, a tribute to Ride that re-created the UK shoegaze band’s classic 1990 record Nowhere, featuring local efforts by Guillermo Sexo, Young Adults, the Hush Now, and others.
