[Screen capture courtesy of Dan Schram]
Speedy Ortiz is the aptly-named recording project of Sadie Dupuis, formerly vocalist/guitarist of the Brooklyn band (and NYCTaper Northside showcase vets) Quilty. This year’s very-well-received full-length debut on Carpark Records, Major Arcana, shows the full potential of Dupuis’ sound when joined to a band, who first recorded with her on 2012’s Sports EP. If Quilty echoed the heavy-tinged sound of Veruca Salt almost to a tee at points, Speedy Ortiz draws from a broader palette of influences, including Tuscadero, Slant 6 and Archers of Loaf to name a few. But not only can Dupuis write a hell of a catchy song, but she stands out both for having a singing voice that she can throttle up from sweet to scream at a moment’s notice. While her contemporaries’ lyrics often tend to word salad to fill space between riffs, Dupuis’ confessional style gives you something to think about — which led Pitchfork to make a favorable comparison to Liz Phair in their review of Major Arcana.
This Hopscotch Music Festival set by the band was one of the more hotly-anticipated of the festival for me, having missed several of the Northampton, MA band’s local shows. To the surprise of no one, the band’s live show brought out the harder element of their sound, while more surprisingly still giving Dupuis’ vocals plenty of room to shine in the mix. The band didn’t spend much time on chitchat during a short-but-sweet set that covered many of Major Arcana‘s best tracks plus some more obscure releases like the 7″ release “Taylor Swift” and two tracks from Sports, including one of my favorites, “Silver Spring”. Dupuis has always had a knack for songwriting, and with this unit cohering around that skill, I’d expect Speedy Ortiz to see a lot more positive press in their future.
I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 microphones from an ideal location in the venue. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!
New York fans can catch the band at the newly-refurbished Silent Barn on October 19th.
Stream “No Below”
Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]
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Speedy Ortiz
2013-09-06
Hopscotch Music Festival
Kennedy Theater
Raleigh, NC USA
Schoeps MK41 (DINa)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Sony PCM-D50>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (trim)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity 2.03 (tracking, amplify, balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 Taylor Swift
02 Tiger Tank
03 Hitch
04 Fun
05 Casper
06 Cash Cab
07 No Below
08 Silver Springs
09 Plough
10 Gary
11 Indoor Soccer
If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Speedy Ortiz, visit their bandcamp page, and buy Major Arcana from Carpark Records.
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