Sad13 is the side project of Speedy Ortiz vocalist Sadie Dupuis. For years, I've been told by people I know "Oh goshhhh Speedy Ortiz is incredible", and when I first heard their first few EP's like "Sports", I actually agreed. I saw a huge amount of promise in Speedy Ortiz at the time, I thought they had a super fresh sound that didn't really sound like anything else at the time. But then they came out with their debut album, "Major Arcana", and literally still to this day I can't listen to that album without falling asleep. While I still enjoyed Sadie's vocals, the instrumentals were just so bland and faceless. Speedy Ortiz over time were sounding more and more like a 90's grunge revivalist act, but not even a flattering one. Upon their next release, "Foil Deer", I enjoyed the fact that Speedy Ortiz were pumping up the volume a bit. The tracks there were a little heavier and did have some more attitude, but I still was far from a fan. Through it all though, I still enjoyed Sadie's passionate vocal performances, so I was rather interested to hear her solo debut, "Slugger".
“Slugger” starts out with “<2”, which yes is supposed to look like a heart, and yes the lyrics here are downright adorable. But I’m getting ahead of myself, “<2” starts off with an icy cold synth line surrounded by an almost murky atmosphere. Now, for someone whose always been on the fence big time when it comes to Speedy Ortiz, hearing this new, more electronic sound is super refreshing. I almost would go as far as to say this sounds like it should be on the soundtrack to some 80’s CyberPunk movie. As far as Sadie herself goes, her performance here is solid, and this is already more of a standout for me than anything on Speedy Ortiz’s first two albums. Her lyrics here are clever, as she constantly brings up that she’s “in less than 2 with you”, I wish I coulda come up with that line, seriously. However, what’s really helping me the most is just how much this IS The Sadie Dupuis show. While I’ve never really GOT Speedy Ortiz, I always thought Sadie herself was a dynamic front woman and a great performer. Here, were getting her completely unfiltered with no distractions. When it always came down to it, I always got distracted by Speedy Ortiz’s nauseating amount of 90’s worship, but here I’m free to enjoy Sadie’s music. As electronic “<2” gets, it never gets cheesy, it doesn’t come off as goofy at all, it comes off really smooth. Not to mention for all you diehard Speedy Ortiz fans there ARE plenty of live instrumentations in there to fill your void. “<2” is a really solid start for Sad13. But the quality of this album instantly takes a huge nosedive with “The Sting”. Instantly were greeted by a much more abstract and difficult to pinpoint instrumental. Sadie still sounds solid, but everything else just seriously isn’t nearly as ear grabbing. This one just sounds too much like it’s trying to be so edgy and experimental sounding, when in reality it’s seriously just kinda sloppy. However, all hope isn’t lost, because Sadie in all this confusion brings together a seriously wonderful chorus. It almost sounds like an old school vintage pop melody over all these quirky keyboards, it’s seriously really likable. The verses though throughout really don’t hook me at all sadly. Overall though, Sadie still sounds totally comfortable on her own. At the very least later tracks like “Line Up” are more straightforward. The riff on this one is much more flattering to Sadie’s performance, and as far as a chaotic sort of rock track this is easily the most energizing track here. There are some electronic bits that have stuck around however, they end up making this track a whole lot more explosive actually. As far as Sadie’s performance goes though, this isn’t my favorite of hers here. It’s an alright performance and all, but here Sadie is constantly battling and clashing up against the more explosive instrumental, and while there are parts that are genuinely exciting, most of it is just ugly. Not to mention, to be perfectly honest I’m much more interested in her. So no, it’s not terrible, it’s just not what I want to hear. This album in a sense is all over the place, with Sadie seriously going for so many different kinda sounds. One thing is for sure though, these chorus’s are absolutely adorable as anything. On “Just A Friend”, Sadie goes for a bit of 90’s pop revivalism. However, this actually works really well, more than anything Speedy Ortiz has gone for at least. It’s smooth, it’s adorable as anything, and Sadie is right at the front where she seriously needs to be. The jolly synths aren’t clashing with anything at all, they’re just sort of chilling by her side. Here, Sadie is just being herself, and it’s just a really sweet, telling pop song, and nothing more.
There’s a little retro vibe on a whole lot of tracks on here, take for example “Get A Yes”, which instantly gives me a Blondie vibe. Sadie’s performance here is a heartfelt one, there are no tricks or anything even close. The instrumental here is one of the album’s more electronically tinged ones, however, this one doesn’t come off as synthetic. “Get A Yes” also has a super great groove on this one, which honestly wasn’t was I was expecting from Sadie at all. Then again, I seriously didn’t know what to expect on any of this album at all. That being said though, there’s a lot on here that I don’t really know how fans of Sadie are going to react to. I mean this is a straight up, sugary sweet pop track. She pulls it off so wonderfully with her own unique swagger though. Later on, “Tell U What” once again has a super slick beat with a huge retro feel. The lumbering pianos, the subtle synth notes, they all go wonderfully with Sadie’s performance. Overall, “Tell U What” is just a fantastic pop tune. Not to mention, were dealing with some seriously deep lyrics here, with Sadie diving into lyrics about abuse. It comes off really personal though, and I gotta commend Sadie for writing such a personal track, and such a well written one at that. But as compelling as a lot of these tracks are, there are still plenty of really odd, weak moments as well. “Fixina” has a lot going for it, but the instrumental is just a little too off kilter for my liking. In more ways than one, this is a pop record we’re dealing with, and a lot of these tracks occasionally forget that. “Fixina” occasionally comes off as a more dream pop track which works wonders, And it’s a shame, because lyrically this is just on point as Sadie’s other tracks here. But other moments on this track just go back to the massive 90’s worship that has underwhelmed me for years. However, “Fixina” in the last 40 seconds or so DOES straighten up and become more enjoyable. It’s not terrible, there are likable elements, but I can’t say the same thing about “Devil In U”. By the time this track rolls around, I was totally comfortable with this being a pop album. “Devil In U” is a hard left turn, and has a very straight forward rock feel, it’s borderline psychedelic, but very dark nonetheless. It’s not terrible, but my problem is that Sadie seriously proved that she can really nail a more pop sound, so why even go for this much more mediocre sound. Lyrically, it’s just as solid as other tracks here, but instrumentally this is head scratching. Once again, things DO pick up in the last minute or so, but by that point there’s been so much bizarre material on this one that it’s just too late.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd94YUSWplo
Sadie rounds her solo project’s debut just as all over the place as it started. First off we have “Krampus (In Love)”. At first, I had a really great feeling from that deep, murky intro that was just so unsettling. But what follows are some of the most bizarre moments we’ve heard yet. Sadie here clearly is going for a sort of dark, twisted Christmas carol, but it’s just so damn boring. There is a groove here, but it’s so bizarre and forced that it just comes off miniscule. Sadie pairs that with truly bizarre Christmas references that she’s shoving down are throats, it’s a bizarre track and I seriously don’t know what she was even thinking. “Hype” on the other hand is one of the most solid tracks on the entire album. The song starts off with these glitzy, spacey guitar lines instantly grabbing your ear, especially after whatever the hell that last track was. Now here, we do see a few Speedy Ortiz elements here. But it’s just enough to give Ortiz fans a nod, it doesn’t become suffocating and this is still all about Sadie. The chorus has a little attitude to it which comes off great, and the jolly sounding descending guitar lines add just a little extra punch. Very solid. Then we have the album’s finale, “Coming Into Powers”, which right away a return to that thick electronic sound. But on this one, Sadie herself is even going for a more pop tone, and it comes off super bouncy and fun. The guitar line in the background slick and gives this track just enough of an edge to it. But then there’s this semi-rap verse by Sammus, who I’ll be honest have no clue who the hell that is. All her rap verse does here is bring everything else here into a much cornier realm. The rest of the track though is pretty solid though, if it wasn’t for that verse from Sammus this would all be pretty damn good. Overall though, I seriously can’t really complain that much about this album, it’s a whole lot better than I was expecting.
Rating: 7.1/10
Give A Listen To: “<2”, "Get A Yes". “Hype”, “Tell U What”
Overall Thoughts: I went into this not really knowing what to expect from Sadie. Being mostly underwhelmed by Speedy Ortiz for years, I literally thought this was going to be more of the same. To be honest though, this is a pretty solid release from Sad13. It's far from perfect, but for the most part it's what I wanted to hear, and that's Sadie being the star of the show and in an environment where she can write catchy, personal pop songs. Honestly, I'm most interested to see what effect has on Speedy Ortiz in the future, cheers!
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