In the never ending “slop” of mass-produced and content-farming media released into the world today, it’s no wonder a defining trend of art in recent years has been diving into nostalgia to find an era when making something actually took time. Digital cameras abound, film-grain filters flood our feeds, and “y2k” fashion is all you’ll find on clothing racks. I must admit I’m susceptible to these trends, often finding myself engaging and even enjoying what I like to call “nostalgia slop.” It crosses the line, though, when it feels inauthentic. Falling in line, indie darling Snail Mail rides this nostalgia wave on “Dead End,” the lead single from her upcoming third album Ricochet, but instead gets stuck in the past.
“Dead End” plays out like most indie rock tracks of the modern age: drums count down into jangly guitar that gives way to the vocal performance that leads into a chorus bookended by the same scuzzed-out guitar intro. For an artist who, although never the most innovative, tended to blend unique genres and instrumentation, the song just feels boring, relying more on 2000’s pop-rock tropes than any desire to shift the needle of “guitar music” for today. This “play-it-safe” mentality leaks into all facets of the song: the lyrics fail to capture any unique emotion, the band’s energy feels muddled, and the vocal performance leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, the packaged “nostalgia slop” that is “Dead End” fails to stir any hankering to return to the past and feels very of the present.
What saddens me most about “Dead End” is watching an artist I’ve loved for so long fail to deliver. Getting caught up in my own nostalgia for her old music, Snail Mail’s debut album soundtracked so many hot and groggy summers of mine that feel perfect in my mind. “Dead End” is a showcase, however, that looking to the past blinds our optimism for the future.