ANCHR'S Artist of the Week: Horsegirl

Photo by Cheryl Dunn

Here at ANCHR, we love a good hometown act— and Horesegirl is one Chicago band you should definitely have on your radar. The trio is made up of Penelope Lowenstein (she/her), Nora Cheng (she/her), and Gigi Reece (they/them), and the members all started playing their own original music after playing in a Sonic Youth cover band.

We first got the chance to check out Horsegirl at Pitchfork Music Festival last year, when they only had a handful of singles released, but they still captivated the festival crowd with their blend of shoegaze, grunge and post-punk.

Since then, Horsegirl has signed to Matador records and made the announcement of their debut record, Versions of Modern Performance, which will be released June 3rd and include singles “Anti-glory” and “World of Pots and Pans.” Speaking about the latter single, the band says, “‘World of Pots and Pans’ is the first love song Horsegirl has ever written—or the closest thing to it. We wrote it in Penelope’s basement while preparing to leave for our first ever tour. The lyrics, inspired by the misinterpretation of a Television Personalities lyric, imagine a (possibly unrequited) romance unfolding through references to Tall Dwarfs, Belle & Sebastian, and The Pastels.” The trio worked together to craft the lyric video for the song in just a few hours, which attests to how collaborative the band remains in all aspects of the project.

The debut album was recorded in Chicago at Electrical Audio with producer John Agnello— you can pre-order a copy here, and make sure to come to the release show at Thalia Hall on Sunday, June 5th. Get your tickets here.