by Ryan Meyer (@meyer_ryan_twt)
Versions of Modern Performance, the brand-new album by Chicago trio Horsegirl, is a noisy introduction to a band that, based on the strength of their debut, is bound to be a fixture in the future of guitar music. The band is composed of Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng on guitars and vocals and Gigi Reece on drums, all close friends that met through youth arts programs in Chicago. Any amount of time spent with Versions of Modern Performance is likely to call to mind melodic noise pioneers like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, and that’s not entirely a coincidence. Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo, the former’s drummer and guitarist, respectively, are both credited for their work on two songs, while the album’s producer, John Agnello, has worked with Dinosaur Jr.
The string-bending guitar riff of “Anti-glory” kicks off the album in an authoritative fashion, leading into “Beautiful Song,” creating a powerful and effective two-song introduction to the record. The guitar work often straddles the line between shoegaze, as seen on the blissed-out instrumental “Bog Bog 1,” and the structureless guitar playing on a song like “The Fall of Horsegirl.” Although most songs don’t break from the fuzzed-out guitars, there are brief glimmers of versions of future performances, like the piano-laden interlude fittingly titled “The Guitar is Dead 3.”
Horsegirl does breakneck speed pretty well, too. “Option 8” is one of the record’s highlights, with its irresistibly catchy “Stand straight, don’t be late, I never meant to hesitate,” mantra in the chorus. The fact that Versions of Modern Performance is able to contain a song like “Option 8” in the midst of beyond-their-years instrumentals and interludes only speaks to the versatility in their songwriting. Including three interludes in a 12-track debut is an ambitious act, but Horsegirl pull it off.
In the press release for the record, the band references David Byrne and his book How Music Works, citing his claim that music is composed for the audience it’s being performed for. Although they say that they figured these songs would be performed in basements, it’s not hard to imagine some of these songs remaining in live sets in venues of all sizes for years to come.