HORSEGIRL - Phonetics On And On

The endorsement from Sonic Youth, the landing at Matador, the support of Jeff Tweedy, who lends out the Wilco Loft as a recording studio. The career of the young band made up of Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng and Gigi Reece is, for all intents and purposes, a dream come true. Having left, perhaps only temporarily, their native Chicago for New York and the onset of adulthood, the trio have made a second album that goes well beyond the already high expectations set by “Versions Of Modern Performance”. Helped along by the involvement of Cate Le Bon as producer, the sound and arrangements of “Phonetics On and On”'s songs are nothing short of incredible: every instrument, every single note finds its ideal place within an immersive, deep sonic space.

The approach to recording and sonic construction is thus clearly different from the denser, noisier 2022 debut (as Reece confirmed to us during our interview). Yet the jaggedness of a decidedly unconventional indie rock remains intact even as the pursuit of pop immediacy becomes more pronounced. Melody and guitar scratch coexist harmoniously, bringing out the lightness and playfulness of the songwriting: from the opening burst complete with guitar solo, to the numerous “la la la”s, all the way to the hefty bass lines of the closing track, the American band's music is, above all, the product of playing and being together out of passion and pleasure.

Spurred on by the Welsh producer and musician, the trio experiment with new instruments that refresh their basic rock setup. Synths, but also a violin played so bare-bones it would make any classically trained musician cringe, are at times woven into a repetitive, almost motorik structure (“2468”), or into a ballad like “Julie”, which explores coming of age in a deeply touching way: “We have so many mistakes to make/ Mistakes to make with you/ You know I want them too/ Say, say what you’re gonna do”. Yet on this second LP, Lowenstein, Cheng and Reece haven't put a foot wrong once. If anything, they have shown complete awareness of their own, personal artistic vision and of the path that needs to be followed to bring it to life. Thanks to a series of memorable songs, “Phonetics On and On” is already one of this year's indie rock albums to beat.

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02/03/2025