Photo by Todd Fisher
If there’s one thing Chicago has besides hot dogs, deep dish and a massive silver bean, it’s good music, and Horsegirl is just getting started.
The Chicago trio composed of Nora Cheng (guitar and vocals), Penelope Lowenstein (guitar and vocals) and Gigi Reece (drums), dropped the album Versions of Modern Performance on June 3 via Matador Records.
The album feels surreal — it’s like a Dali painting came to life. It’s like seeing different people and hearing their stories, but everything is a little bit vague and dreamlike — disheveled but coherent.
“Anti-Glory” sets the scene with a booming bassline and melodic guitars and lyrics that take us to the streets of Chicago, peering into the lives within: “Slipping away our car/ Up and downtown/ Now feeling up is falling me out/ In the back of the barn, in the back of the yard/ From the town in the back where it’s far.”
Cheung and Lowenstein provide a signature sound with vocal layering and harmonies that catch each other over the bass-driven instrumental. The track shifts from feeling like a coming-of-age movie to a nightclub in the 80s, channeling the energy of Siouxsie Sioux herself shouting ‘dance’ over choppy guitar.
“Beautiful Song” chases a distorted, shoegaze-esque guitar tone with supple vocals that travel throughout. The track is blissful, kissing listeners with a lightness that feels as nostalgic as it does pure – it’s like linen in the springtime. Airy, breezy and just an easygoing listen.
The album is nonsensical in the same way as a lot of 90s music, creating an elusive and curious sound through disheveled lyrics and creative instrumentals.
“Live and Ski” is extremely 90s, a little grungy, and combines talkative low vocals with airy harmonies. It’s very Swirlies-esque with distorted guitars that gradually stagger into a cacophony of instruments at the end (tastefully, of course).
“Bog Bog 1,” first of all, is a song name I would love to know the meaning behind, and secondly, is a beautiful transition track. It transports us from the grungy lightness of “Live and Ski” to the track “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty),” which marries the sound of 90s shoegaze with enough poppiness to make it the catchiest track on the album. It’s bright, peppy, groovy and all things sweet.
“The Fall of Horsegirl” eases in with echoey guitars and drumming, followed by some atmospheric vocals. The track has a strong feeling of anticipation. It merges the dreamlike, nonsensical lyrics with a sound just like you’d imagine. It’s chaotic and simple, and a bit eerie, eventually fading into transition track “Electrolocation 3.” This one takes us to space, and I’m swirling through the planets and listening to all the celestial noise around me: it’s a simple instrumental track that has a very Spiritualized, space-age vibe.
“Option 8” shifts gears and sends the album into a faster-paced, brooding sound with talkative chesty vocals and spooky riffs. The contrast and movement sounds like an homage to Christian Death with a slightly lighter feel.
“World of Pots and Pans” is plain sweet. It’s vocal-driven with light guitars carrying the melody. It’s a love song, or perhaps a lust song, or maybe a song about friendship. Whatever it is, it’s all about Emma: “Emma was my brand new friend/ Fun to see how this one ends/ Lovelee sweet, she walks like she can’t see/ Won’t hear her dance or see her run.”
Instrumental track “The Guitar is Dead 3” provides possibly the dreamiest moment of the album with chambered piano bouncing against the walls and creating an atmosphere of delicate sound. It captures a similar feeling to The Caretaker’s An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, which is probably the closest you can get to capturing the eerie desolation of a dreamscape with sound.
“Homage to Birdnoculars” is soft and relaxed. It feels like summertime, it’s bright and colorful with quiet yet chesty vocals. It’s pretty guitar driven and fits the ‘on the road’ feel of the entire album. It’s a simple track with some punch, and a relaxing soft conversation at the end.
“Billy” is catchy right from the start. The dual vocals send the track into full blown shoegaze territory — soft, ambient and layering into one another. Heavily reverbed layered guitars and vocals create a massive atmosphere and wall of sound. Truly a gem of a song and a triumphant way to send off the album.
While Horsegirl sounds like many of the bands I like, they still maintain their own identity — they’ve created a sound entirely new, and entirely their own. It’s a little grungy, a little gazey, a little poppy but mostly it’s just Horsegirl.
