Horsegirl

Horsegirl are a New York-via-Chicago based rock band consisting of best friends Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums).

The group’s rise has been meteoric since its formation in 2019. Their 2020 EP Ballroom Dance Scene and follow up November 2021 single ‘Billy’, their debut on Matador, captured the ears and attention of fans and critics worldwide, garnering early acclaim from the likes of Paste, Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, and more. The buzz around the trio was cemented further when the band took home the Grulke prize for Developing Act at SXSW 2022.

On their debut full-length, 2022’s Versions of Modern Performance, Horsegirl did everything collectively, from songwriting to trading vocal duties and swapping instruments to sound and visual art design. The resulting album, recorded with John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) buzzed with joy and enthusiasm and was dubbed ‘compelling from its first note to its very last‘ by NME.

Much has changed between VOMP‘s release and that of their 2025 album Phonetics On and On. The band left their Chicago hometown for New York, where Nora and Penelope enrolled at NYU. It was the first time the trio had written music outside of Penelope’s parents’ basement. You can hear the push in a new direction by virtue of their new environment, but through this time of unparalleled change, the band turns inward. Horsegirl returned to Chicago to record with Cate Le Bon in January 2024, finding focus and intimacy in the studio that can only arise when it’s simply too cold to step outside. Le Bon led them into new, bright, clear, sonic territories highlighting the inventive nature of these songs. New tools help bring this world to life; violins, synths, and gamelan tiles are all woven into the record. The songs are a testament to experimenting with space and texture while maintaining a pop song at the core.

“On their debut album, the trio string together the best bits of shoegaze, C86, jangle, grunge and alt-rock into songs whose hyper-melodic sweetness is offset by what seems like the scientifically optimal amount of sour, grinding dissonance.” – The Guardian

“Fueled by the classics, Horsegirl have come up with classics of their own” – Stereogum