Well, it’s still colder than a Maha Chai guard's heart in Indiana, so my morning walks continue to be off the table. That being the case, I’ve taken to spending my mornings sitting in my shower, enjoying a nice steam, all the while blaring my favorite albums over my waterproof speaker. Tuesday's record of choice was “Lush” by Snail Mail. If you’ve kept up with my writing for any period of time, then no doubt you know about “Lush.” I simply won’t shut up about it. Anyway, I sat there for the album's entire thirty-eight-minute runtime, then came upon something strange. YouTube started playing similar music after the LP ran out, but I couldn’t place what I was listening to. I was sure it was Snail Mail; there’s no mistaking Lindsay Jordan’s voice, but I had never heard the tune before. So I jumped out into the frigid bathroom air and checked what I was listening to to find that Jah had smiled down on the Earth and granted us a new single, “Dead End.”
My excitement may seem a tad much to those who are not die-hard Snail Mail heads like me. It might be more understandable, however, when you realize this is the first Snail Mail release since their sophomore album, “Valentine,” came out five years ago in 2021. Well, that is, excepting the cover of “Tonight, Tonight” they did for “I Saw the TV Glow” in 2024, an awesome song for a dog water movie, but don’t take my word on that; I hate everything A24 makes. So, our first original release in half a decade, that begs the question: is it any good?
It’s amazing, it’s incredible, it’s mind-blowing, and quite frankly, it’s the bees' knees, and if you think any different, well, you can come down to Broad Ripple and say that to my face. I am nothing short of gobsmacked that Jordan’s songwriting skills have stayed so consistently spectacular. Snail Mail is a band that I found in my late teen years. Their lyrics spoke to me in a way that no other band of the time had. It was like the words were coming right out of my brain. Now, in my mid-twenties, the lyrics are as applicable as ever. The band matured with me, something very few outfits manage to do, and as an adult this new song strikes the exact same chord that “Lush” did nearly a decade ago in my youth. Their sound grew up, but at the same time it has regressed.
There is something deeply nostalgic about “Dead End.” It’s hard to put my finger on what, because it is still so clearly Snail Mail, and yet it reeks of the 2000s. I find myself making a subconscious connection between “Dead End” and Keygrip's hit “Dancing on a Wire.” They share similar weeping guitars and a driving melody that makes you want to find some barren country road and floor it at top speed until you end up in a city you don’t recognize.
We had to wait what felt like a lifetime for “Dead End,” but it was sure as shit worth every second. Snail Mail has done it again because when it comes to alt-rock, they’re simply the best the scene has to offer. The absolute creme of the crop. This single has given me high hopes for the upcoming album; it’s meant to tease “Ricochet,” which comes out March 27. If that album is half as good as “Dead End,” then I’ll have to take a road trip to go see the band play it live, since they didn’t schedule a stop in Indy. And don’t you worry, when that album drops, we will be doing a deep dive on it. I’m counting down the days. In the meantime, go listen to “Dead End.” After that, listen to it again and again and again until you’ve worked yourself into the same tizzy I have.
