Video: SPEEDY ORTIZ Releases NPR Tiny Desk Concert Ahead of New Album Out Tomorrow!

Ten years ago, Speedy Ortiz released their debut full-length album Major Arcana. The breakthrough album earned them critical acclaim, festival slots at Pitchfork, Primavera and Bonnaroo, tours with The Breeders and Stephen Malkmus, and an invite to perform at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert—which they passed on.

“Midway through a monthslong tour without days off, the band worried we couldn’t sneak in enough rehearsal time to thoughtfully rearrange our noisy basement set for the Tiny Desk format, and asked if we could do it another time,” explains bandleader Sadie Dupuis. Ten years later, another time is here.

A decade in the making, Speedy Ortiz’s NPR Tiny Desk is out today and features a career-spanning set list with songs from all four of the band’s albums, as well as multi-instrumental guest features from former Speedy members Devin McKnight and Darl Ferm, and violinist Camellia Hartman. NPR calls it “an ideal showcase for the band's wiry, eternally quotable charm."

Speedy Ortiz was also profiled by The New York Times’ Jon Pareles this week who says "Rabbit Rabbit...melds private reckonings and sonic ambitions. Amid careening, dissonant guitar lines and meter-shifting structures, Dupuis sings — obliquely and sometimes bluntly — about vulnerability, power, anger and how to move ahead...Highly technical music; heartfelt results.” 

The now Philadelphia-based rock quartet Speedy Ortiz will release its long-awaited new album entitled Rabbit Rabbit tomorrow via Dupuis’ own label, Wax Nine. Rabbit Rabbit, the band’s first album in 5+ years was co-produced by the band with Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin (who also mixed the record), mastered by Emily Lazar & Chris Allgood at The Lodge (New York, NY), and was recorded between Rancho de la Luna (Joshua Tree, CA) & Sonic Ranch (Tornillo, TX).

Rabbit Rabbit is also the first to feature longtime touring members Audrey Zee Whitesides (bass) and Joey Doubek (drums), who are now full time contributors alongside Sadie Dupuis (songwriter, vox, guitar) and Andy Molholt (guitar).

To be fittingly released on the first of the month, Rabbit Rabbit is a nod to the superstitious incantation repeated on the first of each month to bring good fortune. Dupuis adopted this practice as a child coping with OCD and early trauma, so when she began to parse difficult memories for the first time in her songwriting, it felt like kismet to name her band’s fourth record after that expression of luck and repetition.

But instead of re-treading old routines, the album finds Speedy Ortiz interrogating conventions, grappling with cycles of violence and destructive power dynamics with singular wit and riffs. The result is Speedy Ortiz at its most potent: melodically fierce, sonically mountainous, scorching the earth and beginning anew. 

Speedy Ortiz will be back on the road with Rabbit Rabbit this Fall for a massive North American tour, spanning four months and more than 50 shows, which will include support from Washer, Poolblood, Foyer Red, Baths, and Spacemoth. Today there will also be an album signing at Repo and Listening Party at Tattooed Mom in Philly, and tomorrow there will be an intimate in-store performance at Rough Trade NYC. See below to find a show near you, and get your tickets HERE. 

TOUR

Aug 31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Repo Records signing (5-6pm)

Aug 31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tattooed Mom listening party (6-10pm)

Sep 1 - New York, NY @ Rough Trade in-store (6pm)

Sep 5 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^

Sep 6 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's ^

Sep 7 - Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom (co-headline with Pile) ^

Sep 8 - Somerville, MA @ ONCE at the Center For Arts at The Armory ^

Sep 10 - Troy, NY @ No Fun ^

Sep 11 - Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House ^

Sep 13 - Montréal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo *

Sep 14 - Toronto, ON @ Rivoli *

Sep 15 - Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's *

Sep 16 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Roboto Project *

Sep 18 - Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups *

Sep 19 - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme *

Sep 21 - Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade *

Sep 22 - Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop *

Sep 23 - Louisville, KY @ The Whirling Tiger * +

Sep 25 - Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR # +

Sep 26 - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor # +

Sep 27 - Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern # +

Sep 29 - Savannah, GA @ Lodge of Sorrows #

Sep 30 - Birmingham, AL @ TrimTab Brewing Company #

Oct 1 - Memphis, TN @ Growlers #

Oct 3 - St. Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole (w/ Stuck) #

Oct 4 - Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub #

Oct 6 - Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street #

Oct 18 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat @

Oct 19 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel @ %

Oct 20 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook @ %

Oct 21 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Purgatory @ %

Oct 23 - Miami, FL @ Gramps @ %

Oct 24 - Winter Park, FL @ Conduit @

Oct 25 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa @

Oct 27 - Houston, TX @ Black Magic Social Club @

Oct 28 - Austin, TX @ The Parish (Levitation) @

Oct 29 - Denton, TX @ Andy's Bar @

Oct 30 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger @

Nov 1 - Phoenix, AZ @ Last Exit @

Nov 2 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo @

Nov 6 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop &

Nov 8 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall &

Nov 9 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza &

Nov 10 - Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown &

Nov 11 - Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt &

Nov 13 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux &

Nov 14 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge &

Nov 16 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall &

Nov 17 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown &

Nov 18 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck &

Nov 19 - Des Moines, IA @ xBk &

Nov 21 - Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle &

Nov 22 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House &

Dec 16 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Feb 16 - Manchester, UK @ Night & Day

Feb 17 - Leeds, UK @ Headrow House

Feb 18 - Glasgow, UK @ The Hug & Pint

Feb 19 - Birmingham, UK @ Sunflower Lounge

Feb 21 - Southampton, UK @ Joiners

Feb 22 - Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store

Feb 23 - Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade

Feb 24 - London, UK @ Moth Club

Feb 26 - Paris, FR @ Supersonic

Feb 28 - Antwerp, BE @ Trix

Feb 29 - Amsterdam, NL @ Doka

Mar 1 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown

Mar 2 - Groningen, NL @ Vera

Mar 4 - Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn

Mar 5 - Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang

Mar 6 - Copenhagen, DK @ Huset Musikcafeen

Mar 7 - Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree

Mar 9 - Warsaw, PL @ VooDoo

Mar 10 - Prague, CZ @ Café V lese

Mar 12 - Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert

Mar 13 - Vienna, AT @ Fluc Deck

^ = w/ Washer

* = w/ Poolblood

# = w/ Foyer Red

@ = w/ Baths

& = w/ Spacemoth

+ = w/ Nicole Yun

% = w/ Suzie True

Watch the concert here:

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