Snail Mail/Tim Heidecker & The Very Good Band @ Central Park Summerstage 8/27/24

 

Bill: Snail Mail/Tim Heidecker/Fenne Lilly

Venue: Central Park Summerstage, New York, NY

Date: 8/27/24

Door: FREE

8:30PM Snail Mail

Latest Release: Valentine (Matador, 2021), Valentine Demos (Matador/Beat, 2023)

Active: 2015 (Ellicott City, MD)

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7:15 pm: Tim Heidecker & The Very Good Band

Latest Release: Live In Boulder (Spacebomb, 2023), Slipping Away (Bloodshot, October 2024)

Active: 2011 (Allentown, PA)

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Missed: Fenne Lilly

My friend Danny wanted to catch his last shot for the summer at at free Central Park Summerstage show, so Snail Mail was it.  "Oh God, a millennial Matador band" I thought to myself.  Then I thought, “is she a millennial?”  Turns out she is 24 and the cutoff before it becomes Gen Z is 28.  So off into Gen Z land we went.

I got to Central Park too late to catch Fenne Lilly at 6, so I can comment on that.  When comedian Tim Heidecker started playing, with a screen behind him saying Tim Heidecker & The Very Good Band behind him, I thought to myself,  "This band isn't very good."  He does have a good foil for a late show television band, Eliana Athayde, who also plays with Waxahatchee.  The guitarist looks like Doug Cook from Creedence.  This brand of liberal comedy songwriter rock falls flat for me.  They've got a forthcoming album on Bloodshot this fall after cranking out records for more than a decade.

Snail Mail are advertised as the heir apparent to Liz Phair.  I think this is a lazy comparison--Liz seemed very adult right out of the gate.  I think if you are going to try to impose Gen X alt-rock comparisons you would be more accurate to say a cross between the Cranberries alt-power ballads and a mumbling Julianna Hatfield.  I can't be too far off because bandleader Lindsey Jordan threw in an Oasis cover of "Supersonic" in a nod to their impending reunion.  

I have heard of a new trend called "mumble-indie."  Although Lindsey's guitar playing is often good during her instrumental breaks, her formula gets a little tired.  Capo-chords-mumble verse-kick on the pedal-mumble chorus-kill the pedal or miss the button, solo and out.  She breaks from the formula songs using canned synths as her band is a guitar/bass/drums trio.  The bass and drums are crammed in the back stage left so Lindsey can take center stage.

The crowd seemed a bit like young corporate types.  Very clean and had a fun time playing with the corporate folding fans that were passed out.  I was watching 2 girls making the fans snap endlessly before Snail Mail went on.  It was hypnotic in a way the music wasn't.

At least the weather was nice.

Z