What the world needs now is new music from Speedy Ortiz. And that’s exactly — and hey, rather unexpectedly — what we get today (April 12) as the Boston-born, Philadelphia-based band led by Sadie Dupuis unveils “Scabs.” The first new Speedy Ortiz music in five years (!!!), the track is also the first to feature longtime touring members in bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides and drummer Joey Doubek, two familiar faces on stages everywhere alongside Dupuis and guitarist Andy Molholt.
“Scabs” has a warm, lived-in alt-rock feel, and Dupuis has somehow weaved in her more electronic-leaning solo work, notably as Sad13, into Speedy Ortiz’s now-familiar guitar-rooted heaviness. It was engineered and mixed by Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin, who co-produced it with the band Speedy Ortiz, and recorded at Joshua Tree’s Rancho de la Luna and El Paso’s Sonic Ranch.
Also true to form is Dupuis taking on social issues through her always whipsmart lyricism, here taking on folx whose so-called activism halts beyond trendy lawn signs and visible social media clicktivism.
“Living in progressive cities and working in the arts, you meet peers doing tremendous organizing work. And then there are neighbors who signal their ‘good’ politics through yard signs alone,” says Dupuis. “I wrote ‘Scabs’ standing in line at the post office, overhearing customers berate a USPS employee. This was during a time of postal unions-opposed budget cuts and other major issues for mail handlers, which were widely reported on. People advertising their support for essential workers acted conversely when faced with personal inconvenience. The song became more widely about self-designated ethicists who don’t quibble about crossing a picket line for individual benefit.”
Hot damn.