Lindsey Jordan and Snail Mail hold an extra special place in my heart… not just because they’re phucking great, but because we hail from the same hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland (Also home of the nightclub scene in John Waters’ Female Trouble). The last time Snail Mail headlined the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection was in April of 2022 when she kicked off the Valentine Tour with two nights at Union Transfer. After opening Night One’s set with the album and tour’s titular track, from the stage of the 1,300-capacity venue, Jordan proclaimed, “We’re Snail Mail, from Ellicott City, Maryland,” which remains the highlight of my post-pandemic concertgoing experiences.
Last month Snail Mail released Valentine follow-up and third full-length Ricochet courtesy of longtime home Matador. The album’s first single, “Dead End,” which chronicles adolescent love and heartache in Ellicott City, MD, is in contention for my favorite of the year. And plenty of other critics are in agreement that Ricochet is just great. “Equal parts diarist and poet, Jordan is uniquely able to express the feeling of ache,” writes The FADER, while Boston.com calls Jordan, “One of the finest indie-rock composers of the past decade,” and Stereogum simply says, “It’s giving off some major mid-’90s alt-rock vibes.”
Tomorrow night Snail Mail kicks off more than a month of North American dates which will have her headlining the 215 next Thursday, April 16th, when she returns to The Fillmore Philadelphia, where she appeared in direct support of Waxahatchee last September. Get your tickets below, check out the music video for “Dead End” and Snail Mail’s performance of latest single “Tractor Beam” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and read my 2022 chat with Lindsey Jordan — which we conducted via email because management strongly discouraged her from using her voice for anything other than performing live following surgery to correct vocal cord polyps — about our shared hometown, selling out an entire Asian tour, how much she loved the Nirvana comparison’s she’d been getting, and more.
*Get your tickets here.
**Listen for a Snail Mail classic on the latest edition of Philthy Radio, now streaming on Y-Not Radio.
