Biography
Speedy Ortiz channels the raw edge of gnarled guitars alongside Sadie Dupuis’ literate yet vulnerable songwriting, transporting the defiant and cerebral spirit of ’90s indie rock into contemporary times. What began as Dupuis’ solo endeavor expanded into a full band whose sonic weight increased alongside its roster. The 2013 full-length debut Major Arcana earned widespread notice for its muscular arrangements that evoked Pavement and Liz Phair, while later releases retained the group’s activist ethos; proceeds from tours and records regularly supported progressive causes, culminating in the pointedly political 2018 album Twerp Verse. On the 2023 effort Rabbit Rabbit, the quartet explored alt-metal textures and electronic elements without sacrificing melodic immediacy or emotional depth.
Dupuis launched the project in 2011, tracking material on a laptop amid M.F.A. studies and a songwriting teaching post at a summer camp in Northampton, Massachusetts. She borrowed the name Speedy Ortiz from a character in the Love & Rockets comic series, issuing the lo-fi Cop Kicker EP and the full-length The Death of Speedy Ortiz, whose range spanned noise-scarred folk to the ’90s indie foundation that would define the band’s core sound.
By late 2011 the lineup stabilized as a quartet with bassist Darl Ferm, drummer Mike Falcone, and guitarist Matt Robidoux joining Dupuis. Members balanced day jobs—college writing instructor, guitar teacher, librarian, and burger-stand employee—while gigging across New York City’s five boroughs. Early 2012 brought the self-released single Taylor Swift/Swim Fan, captured with veteran producer, mixer, and engineer Paul Q. Kolderie; that June the Sports EP marked the band’s first release on Exploding in Sound Records.
April 2013 saw the Inflated Records single “Ka-Prow!/Hexxy,” followed in July by Major Arcana. Cut in four days under engineer Justin Pizzoferrato, the album charted at number 30 on the U.S. Top Heatseekers list and drew praise for its knotty songcraft. Speedy Ortiz self-booked supporting tours, sharing stages with the Breeders and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks while appearing at Bonnaroo and Pitchfork. Between dates the group recorded the February 2014 Real Hair EP, again working with Kolderie and Pizzoferrato, and contributed “Bigger Party” to Adult Swim’s Singles series plus the benefit single “Doomsday” for the Ariel Panero Memorial Fund at VH1 Save the Music. Guitarist Devin McKnight replaced Robidoux later that year.
Foil Deer, the second album, emerged in April 2015 after songwriting sessions at a Connecticut retreat and tracking with producer Nicolas Vernhes at Brooklyn’s Rare Book Room. Though more refined than its predecessor, the record retained critical favor and swept the Boston Music Awards for Artist, Album, and Song of the Year. The band toured alongside Ex Hex, Hop Along, and Mitski, directing December 2015 all-ages show proceeds to the Girls Rock Camp Foundation. The 2016 remix EP Foiled Again collected outtakes and reworkings by Lizzo, Open Mike Eagle, and Lazerbeak, while Dupuis also debuted her subversive pop solo project Sad13 with the album Slugger.
After relocating to Philadelphia, Speedy Ortiz surfaced in 2017 with “In My Way,” featured on the benefit compilation Our First 100 Days, and the McKnight swan-song single “Screen Gem,” whose proceeds aided the criminal justice reform group CLOSErikers. An entire album’s worth of material was scrapped following the 2016 presidential election; the eventual third record, Twerp Verse, was tracked with guitarist Andy Moholt at Brooklyn’s Silent Barn, mixed by Mike Mogis, and arrived in 2018 boasting some of the band’s catchiest yet most overtly political material. It peaked at number six on the Heatseeker Albums chart and number 36 on the Independent Albums chart. That year the group honored its Liz Phair tour with a cover of “Blood Keeper,” an unreleased Scream 2 soundtrack outtake written by Phair, and closed the year with the Adult Swim single “DTMFA”/“Bigger Party.”
Post-Twerp Verse personnel shifts followed: Ferm departed, Audrey Zee Whitesides of Worriers took over bass duties, and Joey Doubek assumed drumming after Falcone exited in 2019. Dupuis released the second Sad13 album Haunted Painting in 2020 and the poetry collection Cry Perfume in 2022; 2021’s The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker … Forever compiled early recordings with bonus tracks and new liner notes from Dupuis. For the fourth album the band worked at Joshua Tree’s Ranch de la Luna and Tornillo, Texas’ Sonic Ranch with co-producer and engineer Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties. Issued in September 2023, Rabbit Rabbit confronted Dupuis’ experiences of abuse and trauma while drawing on the members’ formative affinity for alternative metal and the Palm Desert sound.
Dupuis launched the project in 2011, tracking material on a laptop amid M.F.A. studies and a songwriting teaching post at a summer camp in Northampton, Massachusetts. She borrowed the name Speedy Ortiz from a character in the Love & Rockets comic series, issuing the lo-fi Cop Kicker EP and the full-length The Death of Speedy Ortiz, whose range spanned noise-scarred folk to the ’90s indie foundation that would define the band’s core sound.
By late 2011 the lineup stabilized as a quartet with bassist Darl Ferm, drummer Mike Falcone, and guitarist Matt Robidoux joining Dupuis. Members balanced day jobs—college writing instructor, guitar teacher, librarian, and burger-stand employee—while gigging across New York City’s five boroughs. Early 2012 brought the self-released single Taylor Swift/Swim Fan, captured with veteran producer, mixer, and engineer Paul Q. Kolderie; that June the Sports EP marked the band’s first release on Exploding in Sound Records.
April 2013 saw the Inflated Records single “Ka-Prow!/Hexxy,” followed in July by Major Arcana. Cut in four days under engineer Justin Pizzoferrato, the album charted at number 30 on the U.S. Top Heatseekers list and drew praise for its knotty songcraft. Speedy Ortiz self-booked supporting tours, sharing stages with the Breeders and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks while appearing at Bonnaroo and Pitchfork. Between dates the group recorded the February 2014 Real Hair EP, again working with Kolderie and Pizzoferrato, and contributed “Bigger Party” to Adult Swim’s Singles series plus the benefit single “Doomsday” for the Ariel Panero Memorial Fund at VH1 Save the Music. Guitarist Devin McKnight replaced Robidoux later that year.
Foil Deer, the second album, emerged in April 2015 after songwriting sessions at a Connecticut retreat and tracking with producer Nicolas Vernhes at Brooklyn’s Rare Book Room. Though more refined than its predecessor, the record retained critical favor and swept the Boston Music Awards for Artist, Album, and Song of the Year. The band toured alongside Ex Hex, Hop Along, and Mitski, directing December 2015 all-ages show proceeds to the Girls Rock Camp Foundation. The 2016 remix EP Foiled Again collected outtakes and reworkings by Lizzo, Open Mike Eagle, and Lazerbeak, while Dupuis also debuted her subversive pop solo project Sad13 with the album Slugger.
After relocating to Philadelphia, Speedy Ortiz surfaced in 2017 with “In My Way,” featured on the benefit compilation Our First 100 Days, and the McKnight swan-song single “Screen Gem,” whose proceeds aided the criminal justice reform group CLOSErikers. An entire album’s worth of material was scrapped following the 2016 presidential election; the eventual third record, Twerp Verse, was tracked with guitarist Andy Moholt at Brooklyn’s Silent Barn, mixed by Mike Mogis, and arrived in 2018 boasting some of the band’s catchiest yet most overtly political material. It peaked at number six on the Heatseeker Albums chart and number 36 on the Independent Albums chart. That year the group honored its Liz Phair tour with a cover of “Blood Keeper,” an unreleased Scream 2 soundtrack outtake written by Phair, and closed the year with the Adult Swim single “DTMFA”/“Bigger Party.”
Post-Twerp Verse personnel shifts followed: Ferm departed, Audrey Zee Whitesides of Worriers took over bass duties, and Joey Doubek assumed drumming after Falcone exited in 2019. Dupuis released the second Sad13 album Haunted Painting in 2020 and the poetry collection Cry Perfume in 2022; 2021’s The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker … Forever compiled early recordings with bonus tracks and new liner notes from Dupuis. For the fourth album the band worked at Joshua Tree’s Ranch de la Luna and Tornillo, Texas’ Sonic Ranch with co-producer and engineer Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties. Issued in September 2023, Rabbit Rabbit confronted Dupuis’ experiences of abuse and trauma while drawing on the members’ formative affinity for alternative metal and the Palm Desert sound.
Albums
Major Arcana
2023
Rabbit Rabbit
2023
The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker ...Forever
2022
Twerp Verse
2018
Foiled Again
2016
Foil Deer
2015
Real Hair
2014
Sports
2012
Singles
