Consumer Guide Album

Sad13: Slugger [Carpark, 2016]
Four years late, I learned that Speedy Ortiz headwoman Sadie Dupuis also helms what's oft slotted a pop project. This 2016 debut had the misfortune of coming out three days after Trump's first and we hope only coup, but that's no excuse for missing a feminist coup: 11 first-rate songs that combine noise and tune and cut sharp wit with deft indirection. Standouts include "Get a Yes" on the erotics of consensual sex, "Just a Friend" on a guy she talks to when stressed, "Tell U What" on the "chump wages" of being some abusive bigshot's assistant, and a finale propelled over the top by a 16 from Samuus, a rapper I never heard of. A−