#penelope lowenstein

[sinceileftyoublog]

Dazy, Lifeguard, & Illusion Of Choice Live Show Review: 12/4, Cobra Lounge, Chicago

Dazy

BY JORDAN MAINZER

I'm not sure what Dazy does at a faster pace these days: tour or release tunes. Since we caught his Chicago debut of full-band arrangements in January, he's come to town twice more, including last night's stop at the Cobra Lounge. And mere months after releasing OUTOFBODY in 2022, in March, James Goodson shared songs recorded around the same time in the form of the cheekily titled OTHERBODY. The record continued the vibe of Dazy's debut LP, from the "Revolution" crunch of opener "I Know Nothing At All" to the sugary noise of "Every Little Thing". Just two months ago, Dazy shared the Ryan Hemsworth-assisted "Forced Perspective" (Lame-O), a collection of rounded country pop guitar riffs, a chirpy electric beat, and an uneasy, yet anthemic chorus.

Dazy's James Goodson

Always writing and always playing, it must be hard for Goodson to pick a setlist on a nightly basis. A year-plus removed from OUTOFBODY and over two years from MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs, Dazy's set at the Cobra Lounge felt like as close as you can get right now to "the hits," the crowd pumping fists, banging heads, and singing along to favorites "On My Way", "Split", "The Perfect Crime", "Pressure Cooker", and "Invisible Thing". I was just as happy, though, to see Goodson lean into the sweet, softer side of Dazy. "Forced Perspective", with its curly bass and guitar scrapes, was a highlight, as was "Every Little Thing", "could be a country hit" "Rollercoaster Ride", and set closer "Out of Body". "Is that my brain hanging by a thread?" Goodson sang on "Out of Body"; as much as he may have been disassociating at the time of writing the song, his everyday anxieties have certainly provided ample creative fodder for some of the best power pop of the past half-decade.

Lifeguard

Chicago's Lifeguard opened for Dazy, which was perhaps anybody's final chance to see the band in an opening slot at a venue as small as Cobra Lounge. The hyped three-piece, formed in 2019, signed to Matador Records earlier this year. Let's get it out of the way: Yes, drummer Isaac Lowenstein's sister Penelope is in labelmates Horsegirl, and bassist Asher Case's father is Brian Case of FACS (and formerly of Disappears, The Ponys, and 90 Day Men). Thankfully, Lifeguard is a beast of its own, combining chanted vocals with clanging, metallic guitars and dexterous, repetitively pummeling drums. Earlier this year, Matador re-released the band's 2022 EP Crowd Can Talk along with a collection of new material, Dressed in Trenches. Live, Lifeguard showed what they're truly about: off-kilter time signatures, uneven song sections, moments where you can't tell when they're warming up or about to switch gears. When they played "17-18 Lovesong", Case's rounded bass and monotone vocals wiggled around Kai Slater's stabbing guitars and falsetto off-beat harmonies, though the band never let you get too comfortably hypnotized in a groove. They finished with their newest song, the uncharacteristically poppy and straightforward (yet very welcome!) "In The City". You never know what's next with Lifeguard, and they're just getting started.

Illusion of Choice

Starting off the night was another local institution, four-piece shoegaze indie rock band Illusion of Choice. Most of their songs revolved around the atmospheres you'd expect with a genre descriptor like that: Alex Rackow's distorted guitars, Judith Pelkowski's heavy bass lines, Alex Boyajian's mammoth snares, and Tyler Tumminaro's sharp, nasal vocal delivery. Occasionally, they added elements of jangly surf, but for the most part, they chugged along deliberately, like on "Circling the Drain" and standout set closer "Bad Boy". Overall, Illusion of Choice offered an appropriate middle ground between Dazy's hooks and Lifeguard's deconstructed songs.

[paganwardrumbloodritual]

Penelope Lowenstein, Horsegirl (2022)

[eyepool]

There’s a lot of good new rock music, but I find Horsegirl exciting in a rare way. Maybe it’s because I found out about them before their album was released. Maybe it’s because, like the original shoegaze bands (MBV, Lush…) their music somehow feels tailor-made for me. Maybe it’s because my inner teenager wants to be them: a tight-knit unit with their own opaque slang, embedded in a super cool scene of local bands making music for themselves and each other.

Tipped as some of the best the 2020s has to offer when it comes to the noisy, shoegazey side of indie-rock, Horsegirl are often reviewed as this decade’s answer to 80s and 90s alt-rock. But when we catch up with guitarists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein it’s clear that they’re not making music just for the Gen-Xer who owns Goo on vinyl: far from it. “There’s something empowering about going to a rock show where everyone on the bill and in the crowd is under, like, 21,” Penelope says. “It feels like: this is music for us, made by us. We grew up all in the same city, making it for each other.”

That city is Chicago, home to a vibrant indie-rock scene consisting mostly of teenaged bands. While Horsegirl don’t make their influences a secret – a strong love for My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and more is audible on Versions Of Modern Performance– it’s not the need to revive any particular sound that drives them. “Obviously we were influenced by those bands, that’s what made us want to start writing music,” Nora says. But at this point, we really are pushed forward by the other kids our age, who are reigniting the guitar.”

—Guitar.com

[stevenvenn]

Horsegirl - Anti-glory (from Versions of Modern Performance) Just heard Troy play these guys on KEXP and loved it. So thought I would post! Love it!

[dustedmagazine]

Horsegirl—Versions of Modern Performance (Matador)

Photo by Cheryl Dunn

Versions of Modern Performance by Horsegirl

Horsegirl bends the hard swagger of rock-and-roll into dreamy textures of cascading song. Three women—Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein on interlocking guitars, Gigi Reece on drums—put the haze of cool onto white hot guitar drones, sounding a bit like Kim Gordon, a bit like Elastica, a bit like their own true selves, tuned into the wild, wild sound of early post-adolescence and making it real, the way it sounds in their heads.

All three principals were in high school when they made Versions of Modern Performance. One of them is graduating from high school this week; the other two just finished freshman years of college in New York City. They were even younger when they made their attention-getting Horsegirl: Ballroom Dance Scene et cetera, the EP that vaulted them to the forefront of an intriguing, teen-aged experimental scene in Chicago called Hallogallo, presumably after the Neu! song. But let’s not get too sucked into the narrative about how they could be the daughters or even granddaughters of the last wave of feedback-blurred, murmuring-toned shoegazers. They’re here right now, and they’re damned good. 

Versions ups the volume and distortion from Ballroom Dance’s levels, breaks free of the constrictions of pop song structure and altogether outperforms its predecessor. It begins in the deafening whispers of “Anti-Glory,” as song whose drum and guitar riff hums like a powerline, whose interleavened vocals slant into each other like fractured rays from a prism, whose insistent punches of “Dance!” and again “Dance!” clears the sonic space briefly, before waves of guitar sound crash over again. It slouches to viscous, beckoning life in “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty),” whose crashing guitars frame a lumbering melody, as fucked up and sweet as anything from the Throwing Muses (or Dinosaur Jr. for that matter). “World of Pots and Pans” tamps down the thunderous pounding of tom toms and the tumult of power chords, as the two singers (Cheng and Lowenstein) trade observations about dreaming of horses against a roar as potent as Ovlov’s. 

You can hear Horsegirl’s members finding and falling in love with sounds in the instrumental breaks that dot this album, the two “Bog Bog” tracks, and most lyrically in “The Guitar Is Dead 3,” which sinks piano sounds in amber, preserving them for the millennia. “Electrolocation 2” is a thick fog with lights blinking in it. There’s a defiant, riveted focus on the music; you imagine these women with their backs turned to the audience, coaxing the magic out of their amps. 

And that is why, maybe, college plans and youth be damned, these three seem like they might find a way to longevity. Versions of Modern Performance sounds like the kind of music great bands make to please themselves—and end up pleasing us quite incidentally. 

Jennifer Kelly

[recommendedlisten]

Song Review: Horsegirl - “Anti-glory”

“We wrote ‘Anti-glory’ almost by accident, while messing around with an old song during rehearsal. The song fell into place immediately, and looking back, we have no idea how we wrote it,” the rising young indie rock trio Horsegirl said of “Anti-glory”. Some have suggested that the very first few moments of the lead single off the buzzworthy indie rock trio’s forthcoming debut full-length Versions of Modern might make you guess that Kings of Leon’s most lyrically dumb song among many of their dumb songs at least subconsciously gave back to the betterment of world through these young best friends’ more earnest pleasures. Guitarists and vocalists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein alongside drummer Gigi Reece will stop you in your tracks from any other toxic thought in the listen’s post-punk invitational. “Dance / Dance with me,” Cheng requests of listeners. Their indie rock style guide pays more dividends to early Interpol chic than their predecessors’ over-sexed afterburns here, and as Horsegirl curve back into their own current, it’s evident that they’ve got a hold on the excitement.

Horsegirl’s Versions of Modern Performance will be released June 3rd on Matador Records.

[chaunceyandchumleysdad]

Pitchfork Music Festival - Chicago 2021

Horsegirl - New band from Chicago; Nora Cheng, Gigi Reece and Penelope Lowenstein. They have just a few singles out and apparently working toward releasing album. They are a Noise-Rock band influenced by Kim Gordon and Yo La Tengo. I like the singles so far. Their performance was generally good, but a little too much bass tone kind of drowned out the vocals. During their set, Penelope mentioned that she grew up going to Pitchfork with her parents and started going when she was young enough to be admitted for free.

Bartees Strange – Very enjoyable set. His music crosses over Rock, Jazz, and Hip Hop. He has a nice voice and seems like a cool guy. He commented a couple of times that playing at Pitchfork has always been his dream.

Maxo Kream – This was my only Blue Stage visit. The Blue Stage is a smaller area than the Green and Red stages and the one offering the most shade. I really came to chill in the shade for a bit. Maxo Kream’s music is standard Hip Hop. He was entertaining and engaging with the crowd.

Amaarae – I listened to one of her LPs prior to the festival. It was OK but I wasn’t sold on her little-girl sounding voice. However, I did really enjoy her set at Pitchfork. Very nice mix of her vocals with a male back up singer. He music is a mix of R&B, Soul and Afro Fusion. Very sweet personality and very engaging with the audience.

Waxahatchee – I saw Waxahatchee once before at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, just a few months before the owners decided to close the business. I do listen to her albums occasionally and seeing her again reminded me of how much I enjoy her music and voice. She played an awesome set which made me want to take a deeper dive into her album catalog.

Ty Segall and The Freedom Band – One of my favorite artists who I have never seen live, so I was really looking forward to his set. Ty and the band were everything I thought they would be. Loud, hard driving guitar-based music. They rocked Pitchfork Festival to its foundation.

Kim Gordon – Another artist I really looked forward to seeing. I never got to see Sonic Youth. (I did see Thurston Moore at Riot Fest a few years ago.) Her 2019 album, No Home Record, was her first ever solo album and it is a fine Noise-Rock LP. Her set was straight-up Noise-Rock, which was a great follow up to Ty Segall’s Hard Rock. And she looked great in her black (skirt or culottes) and white blouse.

Angel Olsen – I am not 100% sold on Angel Olsen. I think she makes fine music, but it just doesn’t quite click with me. I started listening to her a few years ago after reading an interview with Liz Phair who said she really likes Angel Olsen and that her latest album sounded like The Beatles. I’m not quite sure from what musical perspective Liz was considering, but for me, I think Liz oversold it. I did, however, chill for this set and it was a nice listen. Her last song was a duet with Sharon Van Etten. They sounded great together.

St. Vincent – What a great show! The other time I saw St. Vincent was in the intimate Egyptian Room in Indianapolis in 2017 during the Masseduction tour. It was just St. Vincent by herself, singing and playing guitar to a backing track. This time, touring her latest album, Daddy’s Home, she had a full band and three soulful back-up singers. Having a live band really added some punch to her set and St. Vincent had some fine moments shredding her guitar. Her voice sounded great, and her slower songs had me enraptured. I can’t say enough about St. Vincent as a creative artist. She never dials it in. Every album and tour are unique both musically and stylistically. She clearly works hard at her art and at least for me, never disappoints.

Missed – Georgia Anne Muldrow – I would have liked to see this artist. I listened to her album VWETO III and found it to be excellent. Unfortunately, she was on at the same time as Ty Segall, so I will have to try and catch her show another time.

(Photos: All the professional looking close-up photos, unless otherwise noted, are from this website: https://illinoisentertainer.com/ All the crappy socially distanced photos are from me.)

[smallcrowd]

© Alexa Viscius Horsegirl, the Chicago trio of 17–19-year-olds Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng, and Gigi Reece 

[ris8lifestyle]

Horsegirl e il meraviglioso debutto con l'aiuto dei Sonic Youth

La nuova scena #indierock di #Chicago ha al comando tre giovani ragazze. #Horsegirl, un debutto da sogno! #RIS8 #ris8lifestyle #magazine #milano #cool #indie #rock #music #playlist #spotify #video #music #musica #concerti #sonicyouth #album

Le Horsegirl di Chicago ci presentano nel 2022 un suono indie rock pieno di sensazioni noise intramontabili. Difficile dimenticare questo disco una volta ascoltato tutto di un fiato. Dopo essersi incontrati nei locali della vita musicale di Chicago, Nora Cheng (chitarra, voce), Penelope Lowenstein (chitarra, voce) e Gigi Reece (batteria) hanno formato Horsegirl, all’umile età di soli 17-19 anni,…

[onlyexplorer]

Watch: Horsegirl | India

Watch: Horsegirl | India

AWith so many great bands, Chicago’s Horsegirl trio grew out of an intense teenage friendship: “We would send each other old videos, religiously read Kim Gordon’s book, and become obsessed with all that music,” the guitarist and singer says. Penelope Lowenstein. the Chicago Reader. The logical next step for her, guitarist/vocalist Nora Cheng and drummer Gigi Reece, all still in high school…

[musicandmood]

Horsegirl Are the Chicago Post-Punk Trio Channeling the Power of Youth

Horsegirl Are the Chicago Post-Punk Trio Channeling the Power of Youth

The DIY scene in Chicago has always been strong, but Horsegirl – vocalists/guitarists Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng, 18 and 19, and drummer Gigi Reece, 19 – didn’t feel like there was room for young people to be involved while they were growing up. “[We] weren’t getting heard or acknowledged, and we would not be able to play shows at any of the venues ‘cause we were underage,” says Reece.…

[rcmndedlisten]

Recommended Album: Horsegirl - ‘Versions of Modern Performance’

The expectations for any buzzy indie rock band are always very high, but imagine that weight on your shoulders when some of your band members are just finishing high school, plus all the while being signed to one of the all-time greatest independent labels. That’s the challenge set forth before Chicago trio Horsegirl on Versions of Modern Performance, their debut full-length and first for Matador Records. Almost effortlessly, vocalist and guitarist Nora Cheng, guitarist Penelope Lowenstein alongside drummer Gigi Reece surpass all of that with an assured entry point of a first impression that celebrates the joys of music discovery and the darker shades of classic ‘90s indie guitar rock inspo with their own youthfully sonic persuasions (even with an assist from O.G.s Steve Shelley and Lee Renaldo lending an assist.) Every generation deserves their own homage to the greats while making a statement of their own, and Versions of Modern Performance is Horsegirl’s own way of doing just that.

Highlights: “Anti-glory”, “Option 8”, "Homage to Birdnoculars”

Horsegirl’s Versions of Modern Performance will be released June 3rd on Matador Records.

Buy | Stream

[abrupt-music]

Siaran Pers: HORSEGIRL MENGUMUMKAN VERSIONS OF MODERN PERFORMANCE, ALBUM DEBUT KELUAR 3 JUNI DI MATADOR

Trio asal Chicago, Horsegirl, mengumumkan rekaman debut mereka, Versions of Modern Performance, yang dirilis pada 3 Juni mendatang di Matador, serta mempersembahkan single/video utama, 'Anti-glory'. Penelope Lowenstein (gitar, vokal), Nora Cheng (gitar, vokal), dan Gigi Reece (drum) – adalah 3 sahabat yang membentuk Horsegirl - melakukan segalanya secara kolektif, mulai dari penulisan lagu hingga pertukaran tugas vokal dan pertukaran instrumen hingga desain seni suara dan visual. Kehangatan dan kekuatan ikatan mereka berderak melalui setiap detik debut mereka. Dengan lirik yang sengaja dibuat impresionistik dan terbuka, dan suara yang berkisar dengan kegembiraan dan antusiasme di berbagai gaya, Versions of Modern Performance menawarkan banyak jalur.

Mengikuti single 'Billy' tahun lalu, single utama 'Anti-glory' elastis dan mendorong, memikat pendengar dengan panggilan utama: "Dance / Dance / Dance / Dance / With me". Video yang menyertainya, disutradarai oleh Erin Vassilopoulous, memancarkan kepercayaan diri, menempatkan Horsegirl di depan dan di tengah, kemampuan luar biasa mereka untuk melapisi suara pada tampilan penuh.

“Kami menulis Anti-glory hampir secara tidak sengaja, saat bermain-main dengan lagu lama saat latihan. Lagu itu langsung jatuh ke tempatnya, dan melihat ke belakang, kami tidak tahu bagaimana kami menulisnya,” jelas band tersebut. “Seperti biasa, lagu dan album ini untuk Chicago, teman-teman kita, band teman kita, semua orang yang bisa bermain gitar, dan semua orang yang tidak bisa bermain gitar.”

Persahabatan ketiganya jauh melampaui Horsegirl. Reece dan Cheng, mahasiswa baru, dan Lowenstein, siswa sekolah menengah atas, belajar bermain—dan bertemu—melalui jaringan signifikan program seni pemuda Chicago, dan mereka memiliki mini-rock bawah tanah mereka sendiri, lengkap dengan distro zine, yang mereka gambarkan agak terpisah dari "pertunjukan dewasa" yang berlangsung di bar dan ruang DIY yang tidak dapat mereka akses. Mereka sangat gembira dengan bakat teman-teman mereka, mencatat bahwa salah satu band dari adegan itu bisa saja (atau mungkin masih!) Dipetik seperti mereka.

Versions of Modern Performance direkam dengan John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) di Audio Listrik Chicago. “Ini adalah debut album singkat kami di institusi Chicago dengan produser yang kami rasa sangat menghormati apa yang kami coba lakukan,” kata band tersebut. Di seluruh rekaman, Horsegirl ahli bermain dengan tekstur, bentuk dan bayangan, menunjukkan kesukaan mereka untuk improvisasi dan eksperimen. Seseorang dapat mendengar elemen musik independen tahun 80-an dan 90-an yang sangat disukai band ini dengan tulus dan mendalam—melodisme kotor dari apa yang dulu disebut "college rock", kemilau zaman ruang angkasa yang keren dan ceria dari vampir tahun 90-an di lounge dan noir; deru shoegaze yang hangat dan berisik; hook ekonomis dan ritme post-punk. Bahkan tidak ada gelombang yang tercampur untuk ukuran yang baik. Tapi saat Horsegirl menggabungkan semua ini bersama-sama, rasanya tidak seperti imitasi atau tiruan tetapi sesuatu yang menyenangkan dan unik seperti pendahulunya. Mereka paling baik dipahami sebagai bagian dari kontinum, tetapi mereka membangun sesuatu untuk diri mereka sendiri.

Horsegirl akan melakukan tur ke Amerika Utara musim panas ini, memainkan pertunjukan pertama mereka di sebagian besar kota yang akan mereka kunjungi. Tur dimulai dengan pertunjukan rilis rekaman khusus di Thalia Hall di Chicago pada hari Minggu, 5 Juni. Minggu depan, Horsegirl pergi ke SXSW sebelum penampilan debut mereka di Philadelphia, Washington, DC dan New York City.

[gazeta24br]

VENCE O GRULKE PRIZE 2022 DA SXSW COMO ATO NORTE-AMERICANO EM ASCENSÃO   SEU ÁLBUM DE ESTREIA, VERSIONS OF MODERN PERFORMANCE, CHEGA EM 3 DE JUNHO VIA MATADOR “Se há uma banda que parece estar dominando o SXSW deste ano, é Horsegirl” – NME “… um exemplo hipnotizante do que Horsegirl é capaz (…) demonstra a capacidade da banda de transcender perfeitamente o gênero” – Clash sobre ‘Anti-Glory’ “… o desenvolvimento em seu som e confiança desde seus primeiros singles está mostrando que grandes coisas estão por vir” – Gigwise  “Vocais delicados, uma parede de guitarras, baixo pulsante e bateria explosiva: o lançamento mais recente do trio de noise-rock de Chicago é uma explosão” – Sunday Times ‘Hottest Tracks’, ‘Billy’ “…. há algo intensamente especial sobre seu som” – DIY sobre ‘NEU’  “… há um enorme potencial neste espaço” –Evening Standard A banda de Chicago Horsegirl teve um início elétrico em 2022, começando com o anúncio de seu álbum de estreia, Versions of Modern Performance, previsto para 3 de junho pela Matador. O trio foi colocado como as “campeãs do SXSW 2022” pela NME, que também notou como “as novas bandas e estrelas mais comentadas da semana – e, quase certamente, posteriormente, do ano – sobre as novas bandas e estrelas em formação”, e ganhou o Grulke Prizede ato norte-americano em ascensão, antes de fazer um show de estreia em Nova York. Hoje, eles continuam nessa trajetória com o lançamento do novo single e lyric video, “World of Pots and Pans”. Seguindo a propulsiva “Anti-glory”, “World of Pots and Pans” tem um charme pop áspero.   OUÇA À ‘WORLD OF POTS AND PANS’ AQUI   Penelope Lowenstein (guitarra, vocal), Nora Cheng (guitarra, vocal) e Gigi Reece (bateria) - as melhores amigas que compõe a Horsegirl - fazem tudo coletivamente, desde a composição, a troca de funções vocais, de instrumentos, até o design de som e arte visual. Reece e Cheng, calouras da faculdade, e Lowenstein, uma colegial, aprenderam a tocar - e se conheceram - através da significativa rede de programas de artes para jovens de Chicago. O calor e a força desse vínculo residem em cada segundo de seu debut.   Versions of Modern Performance foi gravado com John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) no Electrical Audio de Chicago. Ao longo do disco, Horsegirl brinca habilmente com textura, forma e sombra, mostrando seu gosto pela improvisação e experimentação. Pode-se ouvir elementos da música independente dos anos 80 e 90, que a banda ama profunda e sinceramente – o melodismo do que costumava ser chamado de “college rock”, o brilho dos anos 90 no lounge e noir; o rugido barulhento do shoegaze; os ganchos e ritmos do pós-punk. Há até um pouco de no wave. Mas como Horsegirl funde tudo isso, não soa como um pastiche, mas algo tão divertido e único quanto seus antecessores. Elas são mais bem compreendidas como parte de uma continuidade, mas estão construindo algo para o trio.   Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp

[recommendedlisten]

Video: Horsegirl - “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)”

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Dunn

It isn’t much of a surprise that a new band who is very promising would come out of the Chicago scene, but at the same time, Horsegirl have also managed to be eccentric to it all. They’re style sways heavily into past their label Matador’s indie rock legacy likeness, but the trio is also still young (last check, a few of the members were still in high school) to assert their gaze onto that sound from the present state, and in turn, put them into their own timeline. Lyrically, vocalist and guitarist Nora Cheng has painted their songs in non-concrete detail that is a welcome change of shape from modern indie’s over-articulated diary entries.

We’ve already heard three excellent advance singles from their debut album Versions of Modern Performance in “Billy”, “Anti-glory”, and “Worlds of Pots and Pans”, and its final preview ties the oddities rise altogether in the video for “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)”. Surrounding seasick guitars and a slightly shoegaze bend, melody sugarcoats the coming of age nostalgia in the listen and the self-directed visual recorded at guitarist Penelope Lowenstein’s elementary school, featuring members of their weird corner of the Chicago indie scene in the likes of Lifeguard, Friko, Dwaal Troupe, and Post Office Winter. They are not your average teenage “Dirtbag”, as seen and heard below...

Horsegirl’s Versions of Modern Performance will be released June 3rd on Matador Records.

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Chicago trio Horsegirl announce their debut record, Versions of Modern Performance, out June 3 on Matador, announce their first UK and European tour dates, and present charged lead single/video, ‘Anti-glory’.

Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) - the best friends comprising Horsegirl - do everything collectively, from songwriting to trading vocal duties and swapping instruments to sound and visual art design. The warmth and strength of their bond crackles through every second of their debut. With lyrics intentionally impressionistic and open-ended, and a sound that ranges with joy and enthusiasm across a range of styles, Versions of Modern Performance offers many pathways.

Following last year’s one-off ‘Billy’, lead single ‘Anti-glory’ is elastic and propulsive, entrancing listeners with a central call: “Dance / Dance / Dance / Dance / With me”. The accompanying video, directed by Erin Vassilopoulous, exudes confidence, putting Horsegirl  front and center, their uncanny ability to layer sound on full display.

“We wrote ‘Anti-glory’ almost by accident, while messing around with an old song during rehearsal. The song fell into place immediately, and looking back, we have no idea how we wrote it,” the band explains. “As always, this song and album are for Chicago, our friends, our friend’s bands, everyone who can play the guitar, and everyone who can’t play the guitar.” Versions of Modern Performance was recorded with John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) at Chicago’s Electrical Audio. “It’s our debut bare-bones album in a Chicago institution with a producer who we feel like really respected what we were trying to do,” the band says. Across the record, Horsegirl expertly play with texture, shape and shade, showcasing their fondness for improvisation and experimentation. One can hear elements of the ‘80s and ‘90s independent music the band love so deeply and sincerely—the scuzzy melodicism of what used to be called “college rock,” the cool, bubbly space-age sheen of the ‘90s vamps on lounge and noir; the warm, noisy roar of shoegaze; the economical hooks and rhythms of post-punk. There’s even a bit of no wave mixed in for good measure. But as Horsegirl fuse all of this together, it feels not like a pastiche or a hacky retread but something as playful and unique as its predecessors. They’re best understood as part of a continuum, but they’re building something for themselves. Versions of Modern Performance:

01. Anti-glory 02. Beautiful Song 03. Live and Ski 04. Bog Bog 1 05. Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty) 06. The Fall of Horsegirl 07. Electrolocation 2 08. Option 8 09. World of Pots and Pans 10. The Guitar is Dead 3 11. Homage to Birdnoculars 12. Billy

Photo credit: Cheryl Dunn