Girls Night Out

 A cool double-bill last week at Sister Bar:

Snail Mail, led by Lindsey Jordan, headlined a night of mildly edgy music in downtown Albuquerque. But Snail Mail was overshadowed by a much more lively set from opening act Water From Your Eyes, a band that debuted on Matador Records this year. 

Water From Your Eyes -- Rachel Brown and Nate Amos -- have the pop pout of Wet Leg, the dance grooves of Siouxsie and the Banshees and a general metal edge. Amos, who worked a lot of foot pedals, slashed at his guitar throughout the set. With his shaggy blonde hair and adventurous chord progressions, he came off like Kurt Cobain learning how to play guitar. Brown -- dressed like a seventh-grader headed out for a field trip -- tossed out stream-of-consciousness banalities and awkward stage banter. 

At one point, Brown insisted on complaining to us how difficult it is to play 18 shows in 19 days. By this, Brown meant having to play a half hour of music once a day. Brown also complained about being under the weather but had time that day to traipse through the volcanoes on the west side of town. So having to play music for a half hour a day isn't that exhausting, after all. 

Brown seemed to struggle at times to sing on key, but it was more a matter of talking than singing much of the time, and Amos and a second guitar player really brought the noise. Here's a highlight, "Barley":

Matador darling Jordan also was feeling feverish when she took the stage with a full band just before 10 o'clock. She warned that she might "spew," which was considerate of her to those up front.

 

I love her music -- she gets tossed into that vague category that includes Jessica Lea Mayfield and Soccer Mommy -- but her stage act just never electrified the crowd, especially in the shadow of Water From Your Eyes' reckless abandon. There were occasional flashes of Kristin Hersh fronting Throwing Muses, but at half speed. At one point, Jordan kicked the band off the stage to do an acoustic set, and she struggled to hit some chords, as if she was taking the opportunity to just practice her playing while the paying audience looked the other way.

Let's leave Snail Mail on heavy rotation via disc and streaming and not expect a killer show from them in the future.

BONUS TRACKS

Here's a pair from Snail Mail. First, "Pristine" from 2018:

And a three-song set from those early years via a Tiny Desk performance:

We missed opening band Dazy and its power pop. Here's a fun song: