Sadie Dupuis hits familiar, fresh notes with solo debut Slugger

It’s a novel trick that Slugger pulls off, feeling different enough from Dupuis’ regular work to warrant a new name, but familiar enough to appeal to those who prefer her out-and-out rocking. When guitars do pop up, like on the riff-forward “Line Up,” they’re manipulated in ways that make them sound as alien as possible. Elsewhere, Dupuis does her best to work against pop song tropes. “Just A Friend” is a direct response to Biz Markie’s classic of the same name, noting that, yes, a woman can have a man in her life who is just a friend. Similarly, “Get A Yes” is a simple ode to consent, destroying all pop song notions of chasing an ambivalent lover and instead finding that respect for another person can be just as sexy.

That’s what makes Slugger such a worthwhile outing. The songs all work inside established frameworks but twist them until they feel fresh. And really, that’s all Speedy Ortiz has ever done, too. It shows that Dupuis is a songwriter who can make any genre feel her own, regardless of what moniker she elects to release it under.