Ken's Best Albums of 2013: #6: Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana

If you miss 90s alternative (the fuzzed out guitars, the loud/quiet/loud verses, the noise of it all), then you need to check out Speedy Ortiz. There's a huge 90s revival going on right now musically, and Speedy Ortiz are hitting it much better than anyone else. Earlier this year I compared their sound to "Liz Phair [forming] a supergroup with members of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr," and I stand by that completely. It has all the noise and crunch of 80s Dino Jr with the quirk and fun of Pavement. Plus, it's fun. "Tiger Tank" was the single that pulled me in, but as time goes on I keep getting sucked more and more into the poppier tracks like "Hitch." "Hitch" drops a little of Dino Jr's noise, keeps the Pavement, but adds the more melodic elements of Belly. In a lesser year musically, this could have been #1. I might just be holding back a bit in case they have a horrific sophomore slump.

We'll know how their second album turns out sooner than later since Real Hair comes out February 11. In the meantime, listen to Major Arcana below.