Speedy Ortiz have never been shy about being politically active. Their feminist undercurrents came to the fore on 2015's Foil Deer, and they've released singles and tracks to benefit causes like climate change, women's rights, and immigration. Despite their abundant awareness, the political climate in the U.S. changed so quickly after Foil Deer's release that the bandmembers scrapped the material they'd been working on in favor of songs that felt more relevant to the
Trump era. This urgency, as well as the tighter songwriting
Sadie Dupuis introduced on her subversive pop project
Sad13, drives Twerp Verse. It's easily the band's most direct album, but rather than dumbing things down, they've removed anything that might get in the way of their messages. The more defiant they are, the more accessible they get, and they kick off the album with some of their hookiest songs. The charging "Buck Me Off" sets the scene as "the year of the weird"; on "Lean in When I Suffer" and "Lucky 88,"
Dupuis checks the privilege of fair-weather friends and those who give up when things get tough with typically quotable lyrics ("I once was lost, but now I'm floundered/And running late for my funerary date"). Here and throughout Twerp Verse,
Speedy Ortiz make politics personal as they chart the balances -- and imbalances -- of power in relationships. "I want to jump when you offer me hoops,"
Dupuis sings as guitars tie themselves into knots on "Can I Kiss You?," a song whose seemingly innocent title belies the turmoil within it. Things get darker and more complicated on the standout "Villain," which captures the unease of a woman cornered by a man in a public place by juxtaposing matter-of-fact lyrics ("He talks like he knows me/So I'm being polite") with an insinuating melody. The song's complex discomfort is all the more impressive because it feels so effortless; elsewhere,
Speedy Ortiz show how much they've grown by branching out from their '90s influences, adding the drum machines, synths, and other flourishes
Dupuis explored as
Sad13. It's a choice that feels especially refreshing considering that the '90s indie revival had gone on nearly as long as the style's original run by the time of Twerp Verse's release. Even a more straightforward
Speedy Ortiz can be dense and challenging, as proven by the knotty "Sport Death" and "I'm Blessed," which sounds like experimental fiction set to an ebbing and flowing soundtrack. However, every time things threaten to get too tangled, the band delivers a song like "You Hate the Title," a snappy rejoinder to haters that also boasts some of the album's most indelible hooks. Like the rest of Twerp Verse, it's some of
Speedy Ortiz's angriest and catchiest music -- and proof that leaning into suffering brings out their best. ~ Heather Phares