The Breakdown
At the risk of using superlatives so early in a review, I haven’t got this excited about a band since I heard the first single from Fontaines D.C.. Originally from Chicago and now based in New York, Horsegirl stunned with their debut album ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ back in 2022 (read my review here), where I said it was:
a celebration of the values of stripped down visceral and exciting rock’n’roll with swagger and attitude and a rich vein of humour running deep inside. It is a vital refresh of the kind of sneering louche indie rock music that is exciting and euphoric: a shot of adrenaline to jolt a fading heartbeat.
In the meantime, the band released a collection of b-sides and outtakes in 2022, and their new album, ‘Phonetics On and On’, is being released on Friday through Matador Records/Remote Control Records having shown exponential growth and maturity in the ensuing years.
The band, the trio of best friends Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece, relocated to New York where two members would attend NYU, and it was the first time they wrote music outside of one of their parents’ basement. The album has been produced by esteemed Welsh musician, songwriter and record producer Cate le Bon, which has added a whole new level of sophistication in the production while preserving the qualities that make this band so exciting: a sort of rough hewn open eyed freshness and vitality. Despite living in New York now, the album was still recorded in Chicago – deeply connected to their roots.
There is a certain augmentation in production skills detectable in the new sound, and yet the trio remain bedded in the fresh authenticity found in their debut: a laconic, louche almost distant style that mixes indie pop melodies with an almost childlike glee and irreverent deadpan sense of humour.
The band exhibits all the highwire thrills of Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain, with a dose of The Breeders’ quirkiness and subtle humour that belies their ages, all burnished with a C86-era pop mentality that is unadorned and authentic. And as always with great songwriting, it is the spaces in between the notes that speaks so much – there is no overblown layers of instrumentation, just mere simplicity and creativity amongst the notes recorded. The songs do incorporate new tools – violins, synths, gamelan tiles – but these are subtle and add a gold filigree to the basic sounds of the guitar, Bass VI and drums.
Opening track ‘Where’d You Go?’ throws a little Jonathan Richman into the heady mix with the dual voices distant and arctic over a simple jangling guitar and modulated percussion. The harmonies are delicious louche and insouciant. A wailing dissonant guitar interrupts the proceedings. ‘Rock City’ features wistful vocals floating in the distance woo-hooing with delightful guitar twirls that defy expectations. A sudden change in pace towards the end creates another surprising level of intricacy that belies the simplicity of the sounds.
‘In Twos’ is quieter and more reflective with an endearing melody, the vocals recalling elements of the late great Nico.
‘2468’, an early single, proves that Horsegirl’s sound has matured and yet the same charming DIY ethics remain: a rough hewn edge that shines and sparkles with its vitality. New instruments seem to glide through the sound, a louche and insouciant delivery by the band – cool and distant, observational and laced with a deadpan sense of humour. There is more complexity in the production, warm layers over the fuzziness.
In this track, Horsegirl utilises violin parts and kinetic percussion, building stealthily towards a head spinning motorik crescendo. Written almost entirely in the studio, ‘2468’ stands as an achieved byproduct of rewriting and rearranging, adding and subtracting, flash-moments of instability, and embracing the unexpected result.
The accompanying video is suitably wry and deadpan to match the tune as the trio perform with a sort of dissociated fervour, playful yet seemingly worn out and guarded. It’s ultimately as charming as the music.
The song’s video was directed by writer and filmmaker Eliza Callahan and choreographed by Alexa West.
Picking up the pace with a buoyant bounce, ‘Well I Know You’re Shy’ shimmers with a bright sparkle, a certain fey innocence in its delivery and cute message about the pains and joys of youthful love. Indeed, themes of romance permeate the record.
‘Julie’ is a quieter simpler song in the vein of a Velvet Underground Mo Tucker-sung song: a gentle refrain with weird squiggles of sounds sliding in and out like a cat’s meow. It’s a beautiful track that hangs in the ether and has an hypnotic effect.
‘Switch Over’ perfectly encapsulates this heady level of creativity and freshness with a sound that echoes The Velvet Underground with the Dunedin sound of The Chills – a bass heavy drive with delicate distant vocals and melodies, an Arctic chill running throughout. The combination of a Bass VI and normal six strings over the pounding drums add to the thunderous sound.
The ‘Switch Over’ video was directed by Guy Kozak, who came to the band with the idea of switching on/off and doubling concepts. Uncanny in its concept, the video explores the idea of “band-watching-band,” with layered shots of the trio watching themselves perform in the same room.
The balladary of ‘Information Content’ is charming with its reflective rich style and is indicative more than other track of the growth of this band with its delicate spider web of vocals and lush production.
In ‘Front Runner’, there is an almost spaghetti western guitar sound and via the double tracked vocals Lowenstein sings with a romantic, yearning expression:
In the morning / When you’re sleeping / I can’t wait and I can’t wait to compromise / In the morning / When you’re sleeping – I can’t wait and I can’t wait.
The harmonies are extraordinarily luscious. The self-directed video sees Lowenstein, Gigi Reece, and Nora Cheng searching for one another in various locations throughout their hometown of Chicago.
A pounding kick drum and scaling, arching, rolling guitars introduce the droll vocals in ‘Sport Meets Sound’, vocals that intertwine and twist in dual tracks over a throbbing bass spine.
Final track ‘I Can’t Stand To See You’ speeds up with a pop vibrancy that bubbles and froths with its delicate melodies and chiming guitars.
‘Phonetics On And On’ is quite simply a sonic triumph: a whole new fresh and creative approach to indie rock with a wistful dreamy delivery and indelible melodies. Deceptively simple instrumentation carries stunning melodies and lyrics that are unembellished and raw, capturing the band’s development and maturity, yet storing in amber their stunning creativity. And while the genetic code references some of the greatest bands in musical history, Horsegirl have carved out their own unique and delicious sound.
The album is out on Friday, 14 February 2025 and available to download and stream here.
‘Phonetics On And On’ was recorded over two weeks in January 2024 in the band’s native Chicago’s The Loft studio at the peak of winter. With the heating off to avoid sound interference, the band were bundled in multiple sweaters and sitting on their hands between takes and found the kind of focus and intimacy that can only arise from it being too cold to go outside.
They followed Le Bon into brighter, clearer sonic territories that highlight the intuitive and off-kilter nature of the songs: instead of filling them out with distortion, the trio utilising the expanse, playing with space and texture within pop song structures and and leaning further into the process of recording – adding and subtracting, flash-moments of instability, and embracing the unexpected result.
The band remain part of the adventurous Hallogallo Chicago youth music scene, which includes bands like Lifeguard, TV Buddha, and Twin Coast.
Horsegirl will also be touring extensively in 2025 through the UK, US and in Europe. Details and tickets here.
Tour Dates
Sat. Feb. 22 – Chicago, IL @ Metro (Record Release Show) ^
Fri. Mar. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church %
Sat. Mar. 22 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
Sun. Mar. 23 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings %
Mon. Mar. 24 – Richmond, VA @ The Warehouse %
Wed. Mar. 26 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom %
Thu. Mar. 27 – Somerville, MA @ Arts at The Armory %
Fri. Mar. 28 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater %
Sat. Mar. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw %
Sat. June 7 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Tue. June 10 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Club
Wed. June 11 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Szimpla
Sat. June 14 – Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound Porto
Mon. June 16 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
Tue. June 17 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Wed. June 18 – Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
Fri. June 20 – London, UK @ Scala
Sat. June 21 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
Sun. June 22 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
Tue. June 24 – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Thu. June 26 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Mon. Aug 4 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon #
Tue. Aug. 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry #
Wed. Aug. 6 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck $ #
Fri. Aug. 8 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall #
Sat. Aug. 9 – Austin, TX @ Parish #
Mon. Aug. 11 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #
Tue. Aug. 12 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room #
Thu. Aug. 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom #
Sat. Aug. 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall #
Tue. Aug. 19 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater #
Wed. Aug. 20 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos #
Thu. Aug. 21 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl #
Sat. Aug. 23 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Basement #
Sun. Aug. 24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court #
Tue. Aug. 26 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater #
^ w/ Lifeguard & Answering Machines
% w/ Free Rang
Feature Photograph: Chase Middleton
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