Creativity has always had a habit of circling back on itself. Fashion, music, and film often resurrect the past, breathing new life into old ideas with the weight of nostalgia behind them; thriving on the exchange between past and present.
Lean too heavily on an era’s sound or aesthetic and it comes across as cheap or insincere. When done well, however, this delicate balance between new and old can produce something simultaneously refreshing and achingly familiar. This is precisely what Horsegirl achieve with their sophomore album, Phonetics On and On – a record that, through invention, rejuvenates the sounds of 80s-90s indie with a style that’s minimal and unique.
The Chicago-born, New York-adopted trio, Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece, started Horsegirl in 2019. A stack of impressive singles and notable live performances saw them achieve international success with their 2022 debut, Versions of Modern Performance. Merging angular guitar riffs with emphatic vocals and an incredibly candid approach to songwriting, the band quickly drew comparisons to icons like Pavement, Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth. It wasn’t long before tracks like ‘Billy’ and ‘Anti-Glory’ saw the band rise rapidly; their DIY ethos and effortless style marked them as a refreshing presence in the alternative music scene.
LP2 Phonetics On and On, marks a bold step forward, while still rooted in the DIY aesthetic that won them acclaim. This album signals a shift – an eagerness to explore, to play, and to expand beyond the limits of their debut. It’s an ode to experimentation, the turning of a page still bound by the No Wave touchstones that first sparked our interest.
Produced by the renowned Welsh artist Cate Le Bon and recorded in Chicago, Phonetics pairs the energy of their hometown with the chaotic buzz of New York. The tension between familiarity and forward thinking manifests in a sound that is both assured and innovative, its a work that sees Horsegirl at their very best.
While it’s easy to overcomplicate the songwriting process, this release embraces simplicity; showcased from the off throughout the album’s ecstatic opener. Clocking in at just one minute and forty seconds, ‘Where’d You Go’ throws listeners headfirst into the trio’s refined sonic world, ageless guitar tones and endearing vocal layers merge into something immediately catchy. This confidence in simplicity carries throughout the album; ‘Rock City’ and ‘Sport Meets Sound’ demonstrate a nonchalant punk-like ease, as their brilliance is rooted not in intricate composition but in an effortless swagger.
Phonetics On And On doesn’t just build on the success of its predecessor – it reshapes it. While the band’s signature guitar moves and pop structures remain, there’s a newfound willingness to lean even further outside of the box. Throughout these new tracks, we hear an entirely new palette of sounds—rattling shakers, Gamelan Tiles? and wordless vocalisations that often feel more akin to a nursery rhyme than a standard rock song.
Tracks like ‘In Twos’ and ‘Information Consent’ lean fully into this playful minimalism, their melodies so inviting that we long for their inevitable repetition. In keeping with the album’s title, many of the lyrics amount to vowels or syllables neatly packed beside often thoughtful or longing vocals, whether its ‘La’ or ‘Da’ or the heavy hitting “we have so many mistakes to make”, there’s a maturity that hides behind the Phonetics‘ melodic expression.
Despite brilliant highs and lows, the most striking element of Phonetics On and On is its sense of togetherness. Horsegirl, a band formed in high school, maintains an intimacy in their music that transcends its quirky technicalities. The group’s friendship is woven into every track; like the awesome clang of a seesaw rocking back and forth, the album reverberates with the trio’s infectious charm and tenderness. Under Cate Le Bon’s guidance, Horsegirl have sharpened their instincts, refining their pop sensibilities while retaining the raw charm that made them stand out in the first place.
The result is an album that is charged with an unbelievable lightness. While it draws from the past, Phonetics On and On never falls into repetition. Instead, it is the result of reinvention: a band stepping confidently into bigger shoes. Horsegirl’s sophomore album is testament to the power of collaboration, but more importantly, a testament to friendship.
featured image: Ruby Faye
