Speedy Ortiz dropped “Scabs” in April, their first original single since 2018. It was billed as the “first to feature longtime touring members Audrey Zee Whitesides and Joey Doubek,” alongside Sadie Dupuis.
To start this month, the Philadelphia-formed rock band announced their first album in five years, Rabbit Rabbit, is due on September 1 and coupled the news with the single “You S02.” Speedy Ortiz served up another double-dip of good news on Wednesday, June 28.
“Plus One,” yet another single, arrived simultaneous with a fall North American touring schedule spanning over 50 dates.
Dupuis explained the underlying link between the “Plus One” premise and touring in a statement:
“I love touring, but the workaholism it encourages has been a convenient way to repress my feelings. In the pandemic, I found myself ruminating on my estrangement from an abusive family member. I’ve used my songwriting to process other experiences of violence, but had not broached these memories until Rabbit Rabbit. Being able to work on old trauma in therapy and in my writing has helped my boundaries elsewhere, and taught me to move on from exploitative relationships.
“That’s what ‘Plus One’ is about, and it came out pretty quickly as a sad acoustic waltz. I was sitting on the floor of an empty living room, mid-move, and the bare surroundings added a liminal starkness, though some of the imagery is inspired by scenes from West Philly that summer. When I went back to do pre-production, Texan post-hardcore was in my head, so I tried to channel At the Drive-In and Trail of Dead, bands that inspired me as a teen.”
The accompanying video, directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg, stars a seemingly innocent black rabbit who incrementally grows into a “Godzilla-sized star … who is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”
Watch the “Plus One” video above and check out all of Speedy Ortiz’s upcoming tour dates below.
07/28 — Chicago, IL @ Wicker Park Fest
07/29 — Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen (w/ The Good Life)
09/05 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
09/06 — Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
09/07 — Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
09/08 — Somerville, MA @ ONCE at the Center For Arts at The Armory
09/10 — Troy, NY @ No Fun
09/11 — Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
09/13 — Montréal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
09/14 — Toronto, ON @ Rivoli
09/15 — Lakewood, OH @ Mahall’s
09/16 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Roboto Project
0918 — Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
09/19 — Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
09/21 — Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade
09/22 — Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
09/23 — Louisville, KY @ The Whirling Tiger
09/25 — Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
09/26 — Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
09/27 — Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
09/29 — Savannah, GA @ Lodge of Sorrows
09/30 — Birmingham, AL @ TrimTab Brewing Company
10/01 — Memphis, TN @ Growlers
10/03 — St. Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole
10/04 — Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
10/06 — Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street
10/18 — Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/19 — Richmond, VA @ The Camel
10/20 — Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
10/21 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory
10/23 — Miami, FL @ Gramps
10/24 — Winter Park, FL @ Conduit
10/25 — New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
10/27 — Houston, TX @ Black Magic Social Club
10/28 — Austin, TX @ The Parish
10/29 — Denton, TX @ Andy’s Bar
10/30 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
11/01 — Phoenix, AZ @ Last Exit
11/02 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
11/06 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
11/08 — Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
11/09 — Seattle, WA @ Barboza
11/10 — Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
11/11 — Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
11/13 — Boise, ID @ Neurolux
11/14 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/16 — Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
11/17 — Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
11/18 — Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
11/19 — Des Moines, IA @ xBk
11/22 — Detroit, MI @ Lager House
12/16 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Rabbit Rabbit is out 9/1 via Wax Nine. Find more information here.
