The Summer On Crutches

Speedy Ortiz “No Below”

Speedy Ortiz get pegged as a mid ’90s indie rock throwback, and that’s accurate up to a point, but to get really specific, they’re a lot more like what those musicians got up to long after that glory era. Large chunks of their debut remind me of Mary Timony in those limbo years after her first two solo records but before Wild Flag, and their best song by far, “No Below,” sounds quite a lot like what Stephen Malkmus was up to on Mirror Traffic a few years ago. But where those songs reflect on the seeming stability of adult life, Speedy Ortiz is more concerned with looking back on troubled youth – the song is about an ostracized kid who finds solace in making one true friend. It verges on being totally maudlin, but the subject matter makes a virtue of the slack sway of the music and the wounded tone of the vocals.

Buy it from Amazon.