Watch Speedy Ortiz make their ‘Tiny Desk’ debut
To boost the excitement for their new album Rabbit Rabbit, Massachusetts indie outfit Speedy Ortiz made their long-awaited debut on NPR’s Tiny Desk series.
Notably, the group’s frontwoman Sadie Dupuis’ other project, Sad13, played a Tiny Desk (Home) concert in October 2020, when Covid-19 restrictions halted the normal iteration of the show.
It also transpires that Speedy Ortiz’s appearance on Tiny Desk has been a decade in the making, with Dupuis claiming that the band were initially invited to play it in 2013, but schedule conflicts and having no time to rehearse meant they had to decline the offer.
After politely turning down NPR, Speedy Ortiz asked to “do it later”, which turned out to be a decade down the line. However, even after such a long time, the quartet have made good on their promise, playing a career-spanning four-song set and enlisting three additional musicians to put an unplugged twist on their music.
Playing a track from each of their four albums, they are ‘Scabs’ from Rabbit Rabbit, ‘Lucky 88’ from 2018’s Twerp Verse, ‘The Graduates’ from 2015’s Foil Deer, and ‘Plough’ from their 2013 debut album, Major Arcana.
Speedy Ortiz released their fourth album, Rabbit Rabbit, today. Awarding it three stars in her review, Far Out’s Elle Palmer writes: “Rabbit Rabbit is an ode to the alternative scenes of the past, particularly those Dupuis grew up around. It combines bright and clean production, spirited vocals, and guitar-driven soundscapes with Dupuis’ contemplative words to form a 2000s movie soundtrack for a contemporary audience”.
Watch Speedy Ortiz on NPR’s Tiny Desk below.
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