Speedy Ortiz

Foil Deer

Speedy Ortiz’s first full-length, 2013’s Major Arcana, was one of the denser debuts in recent memory, one where whip-smart lyrics and gnarled guitar melodies collided in a tangled mass of ’90s indie-rock worship. Their sophomore effort, Foil Deer, is cut from the same cloth, driven by distortion eruptions, needling guitar riffs and frontwoman Sadie Dupuis’ cerebral wordplay. But this record is even more complicated. That’s a very good thing indeed: From the mangled hip-hop grooves of “Puffer” and the grimy guitar acrobatics on “Raising The Skate” to the screeching noise jags lurching through “Homonovus,” Foil Deer is a meticulous collection which deconstructs convention. That Dupuis also steps forward as a more confident vocalist—veering from slyly empowered to wickedly conspiratorial to ominous beacon of discord—is icing on the cake.

Carpark http://www.carparkrecords.com

“Puffer”