Speedy Ortiz: Twerp Verse (Indie Exclusive Colored Vinyl) Vinyl LP Speedy Ortiz

3rd studio album from Massachusetts indie darlings Speedy Ortiz! It’s their first full-length since 2015’s well-received Foil Deer, and first with guitarist Andy Molholt of Laser Background. Twerp Verse is produced by Mike Mogis, in-house engineer of Omaha indie institution Saddle Creek, who lends the same bucolic Nebraska sheen that has graced Mogis-produced efforts by Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley and Cursive to Speedy Ortiz’s candy-coated lo-fi indie pop sound. Sadie Dupuis explains the slightly-longer than normal lapse of time since the last record, citing an album that was written but subsequently scrapped following the 2016 election: “The songs on the album that were strictly personal or lovey dovey just didn’t mean anything to me anymore. That’s not the kind of music I’ve found healing or motivating in the past few years, and I was surprised I’d written so much of it.” She goes on to explain the title of the record: “I call it a ‘twerp verse’ when a musician guests on a track and says something totally outlandish – like a Lil Wayne verse – but it becomes the most crucial part. You need to employ a self-preservational sense of humor to speak truth in an increasingly baffling world.” Indie-exclusive pink rainbow splatter colored vinyl pressing includes bonus 7-inch containing two additional tracks, all housed in full-color gatefold jacket with foldout poster.

• indie-exclusive edition
• pink rainbow splatter colored vinyl pressing
• bonus black vinyl 7-inch
• gatefold sleeve
• foldout poster
• limited edition
• music label: Carpark Records 2018

reviewed by plain tiger 05/2018