Label: Matador
Released: 3rd June 2022
Horsegirl occupy a weirdly dark corner of the musical world, and on their debut album ‘Versions of Modern Performance’, they invite you into the centre of that. Welcome to the vampish cult of Horsegirl.
It’s all rainy days, burgundy hues and grungy basements in their sonic sphere. They’re a deft hand at hypnotism – from the first notes of ‘Anti-glory’, they have you cast under their ghoulish spell. It’s laced in the warring vocals, the imperative commands of the guitars and slip into chants midway through. Scuzzy and unpolished, this is Horsegirl at their rawest, truest selves. They never shy away from distorted meandering instrumentals, embracing the eery moments of pause amidst the freneticism the rest of the album holds. The twinkling keys of ‘The Guitar Is Dead 3’ might seem largely at odds with the guitar-heavy rest of the album, and yet it is a luscious ray of light amidst the lingering shadows of the album.
The Chicagoans’ sound lays on a bed of shoegaze, post-punk and no wave, but they’re forging their own sound – playing with textures and sliding, screeching guitars, they build a dark atmosphere that is completely their own. ‘The Fall of Horsegirl’ is anything but – mantra-like and authoritative, it sees the trio of best friends rise to intense levels of both worry and exultation. Its DIY sensibilities are crucial and the mark of a band with abilities well beyond their youth. It is still early days in Horsegirl’s careers, and yet they have crafted the type of sound that will haunt you. Enveloping and inescapable, ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ is the kind of album that you find yourself returning to, losing yourself time and time again in its alluring trance.
