REVIEW: Horsegirl Finds their Stride with ‘Phonetics On and On’
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY JANET HERNANDEZ ☆
SHORTLY AFTER HORSEGIRL SIGNED TO MATADOR RECORDS in 2021, the buzz surrounding the band grew exponentially louder. Countless publications lauded the trio, popular music festivals in the U.S. and abroad invited them to perform, they shared the stage with acts like Pavement, and legions of fans praised their Gen-Z interpretation of the ‘90s alternative sound. Horsegirl’s status as guitar rock's newest gem was fully cemented with Versions of Modern Performance, their long-awaited and critically-acclaimed debut album. But take away the distortion on that record, add “la la las” and “da da das” and even some synth, and the outcome is Phonetics On and On.
Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece’s stunning follow-up album isn’t what listeners might expect — and perhaps not what the New York via Chicago-based trio expected at first either. In interviews, they describe producer Cate Le Bon’s formative role as she helped the band pull back on some of the percussion and overall noise from their first record, and pushed them to experiment with new sounds. “Julie” is the first Horsegirl track to feature synth, thanks to Le Bon’s encouragement. Lowenstein also describes the moment when the band decided not to use the guitar part she had written, and instead let her bandmates’ bass line and synth become the song. “It just is, for me, one of the most beautiful moments on the record,” she shares in a video for Matador, “because it does just speak to this really special thing that happened in our writing process . . .”
“2468,” the first single off the record, opens with a bright violin and builds up to an energetic, melodic track with those charming “da da das” referenced throughout the record; it’d fit right in with the 2008 Juno soundtrack. “Well I Know You’re Shy” is another standout song: jangly and warm, with lyrics about longing — from a window’s distance. Percussion instruments like gamelan tiles on “I Can’t Stand To See You” and a cabasa add interesting textures across the tracks. Each member has their shining moments, like Lowenstein’s impressive guitar solo on “Where’d You Go,” Cheng’s melodic bass line on “Well I Know You’re Shy,” and Reece’s subdued cymbals on “Sport Meets Sound.”
After constantly being compared to other rock acts, the band wanted to try something different on their second record. But no one could predict the shape of Phonetics On and On. In the search for a sound that was all theirs, Horsegirl landed on a fresh, spacious, and endearing album that takes home first place.
Credit: Ruby Faye
