Barely out of high school when their debut album Versions of Modern Performance dropped in 2022, Chicago’s Horsegirl, the tight knit trio of Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein and Gigi Reece, immediately took to the podium on year end lists with their unpolished approach to indie rock. Since then, all three have relocated to New York, where Cheng and Lowenstein are attending college. In packing up and moving on, the band have pared back some of the worn out fuzz that drenched their debut, splurging out on some slicker sounds for their sophomore effort, Phonetics On and On.
With the new album having been recorded back in Chicago at Wilco’s studio The Loft, inspiration from the aforementioned seems to have inevitably seeped up through the floorboards. ‘I Can’t Stand To See You’ brings to mind the alt-rock icons’ heyday, but adds in sparkling gamelan tiles for a shimmering finale. Boasting caffeinated riffs and an addictive bass line that leaves one wide eyed, ‘Rock City’ also sounds like it may be under the influence.
Yet even with a catalogue of sounds as broad as Wilco’s to peruse, the band pluck strands from many other muses. ‘2468’s dissonant violin harks back to the good ol’ days of post-punk pioneers such as The Raincoats, when knowing how to play an instrument wasn’t necessarily a prerequisite for including it on your album. That’s not to say the trio don’t know their stuff – all three members are more than proficient in their playing, and while there may be no complex guitar solos or intricate drum fills, Horsegirl’s ability to amalgamate all their instrumentation into such a tight package is something few can achieve this well.
‘Well I Know You’re Shy’ brings post-punk into the present by way of lovelorn lyricism and infectious hooks, while ‘Switch Over’ is another standout – a galloping guitar track that succeeds by keeping things simple. “It used to be pretty slow… and then we sped it up.” says Cheng. Lowenstein recalls the impact producer Cate Le Bon had on the process: “We got this email from Cate before we recorded, of her just like going through our songs… Saying what we might do to push ourselves… One of the first things she said in that email was “Speed it up, and channel The Fall!””
Elsewhere, the trio persist in subverting the restraints of genre, with slow, straightforward songs carving out their niche in and amongst the upbeat and chaotic. ‘In Twos’ sleepy strumming conjures up warm autumnal vibes, while the stripped back folk of ‘Frontrunner’ serves as an ideal accompaniment to an evening drive through the Midwest (windows down of course).
Lyrically, a lot is said by not really saying much at all. Cheng and Lowenstein’s vocals tend to act more like an additional instrument than a story telling device, with ‘da da’s’ and ‘do do’s’ filling the space where an extra layer of guitar might’ve stood on their debut. Gloomy synth backed track ‘Julie’ and percussion led number ‘Information Content’ sit amongst a handful of songs that break out of this barrier, laying out words more profound, but without dropping the phonetic fun.
Effortlessly eccentric, Horsegirl’s Phonetics On and On is best described as a sonic college; its’ scraps of sound glued together to form a unique piece of art that will prove impossible to replicate.
Phonetics On and On is out now on Matador Records.
