Secret Meeting score: 90
by Stewart Cheetham
Snail Mail is the moniker of songwriter and guitarist, Lindsey Jordan. Currently riding a wave of industry buzz, she’s gained praise from the likes of Liz Phair, Waxahatchee and Jordan’s former guitar teacher and Ex-Hex front-woman, Mary Timony.
Spawned out of the Baltimore indie scene, the then 16-year-old Jordan caught the attention of Priests’ owned punk label, Sister Polygon Records who released her debut EP. With the first run of Habit long since out of print, Jordan is currently in the middle of a run of sold out UK dates in support of her upcoming album, Lush, which will be released on Matador Records on 8th June.
Jordan, accompanied by her three-piece band, take to the stage after making their way through a packed-out upstairs room in Manchester’s Gullivers.
‘I woke up in my clothes having dreamt of you’, Jordan growls on recent single, Heat Wave – stabbing at her glistening red Fender Jaguar. And as her band provides rock solid grooves that are the bedrock of her punchy sound, the classically-trained Jordan delivers intricately tasteful, Marr-esque guitar parts between vocals.
At just 19, there’s still a teenage angst to her lyrics, but she carries an affront beyond her years. ‘This is a new one. I’m trying it out for the first time here in Manchester,’ she jokes before ripping into fan favourite and lead track, Thinning, from the Habit EP. But with a new found anger not present on the original, ‘I don’t know it just feels gross,’ will be in the heads of those present for days.
Her latest single, Let’s Find An Out, is taken to another level from its recorded counterpart and, even with added snarls, the aching beauty is not lost. Pristine feels like a hit single and festival favourite waiting to happen. Currently unreleased album closer, Anytime, is performed solo, and again shows off her enviable guitar style. Before she closes the show with a stunning cover of The 2nd Most Beautiful Girl In The World by K-Records act, Courtney Love (the band – not Kurt’s ex).
Tonight may be Snail Mail’s first appearance in Manchester, but this intimate preview suggests you won’t be seeing her in venues this small for much longer.
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