Biography
The Chicago trio Horsegirl draws from the alternative currents of the 1990s, embracing shoegaze, noise rock, and indie pop while also nodding to the earlier college-rock and post-punk movements that shaped them. Their first album, Versions of Modern Performance, arrived in 2022 and mixed those threads into a sound at once recognizable and unexpected. On the 2025 follow-up Phonetics On and On, the band worked with producer Cate Le Bon to streamline their approach and reduce density.
Guitarists and vocalists Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng first crossed paths as teenagers in one of Chicago’s youth music programs. Discovering a shared enthusiasm for artists such as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, they began attending shows together. At one concert they met drummer Gigi Reece, who had taken part in comparable programs and favored the same music. The three swapped songs, formed Horsegirl, and began performing at all-ages spaces including art museums and youth centers. Their palette grew swiftly, incorporating Flying Nun acts and 1970s German art rock alongside their foundational interest in 1990s indie bands like Yo La Tengo and Pavement.
With help from friends, they recorded three songs in a basement and posted the Ballroom Dance Scene EP online. Positive response prompted U.K. label Sonic Cathedral, home to Lorelle Meets the Obsolete and Ride’s Andy Bell, to release “Ballroom Dance Scene” and “Sea Life Sandwich Boy” as a single in early 2021. After enduring the first COVID-19 restrictions separately, the high-schoolers resumed shared schedules once rules relaxed, attending Zoom classes in the mornings and rehearsing in the afternoons.
Matador, long known for its taste-making roster, signed the group in April 2021. Recording began at once so the album could be finished before recently graduated Cheng and Reece moved to New York City for college. The band tracked at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with producer John Agnello, a longtime Dinosaur Jr. collaborator. The resulting collection blended angular post-punk rhythms, dense shoegaze textures, melodic indie-pop vocals, and experimental fragments, reflecting past influences without being confined by them. Versions of Modern Performance appeared in June 2022, freeing the members to embark on their first extended U.S. tour.
The next two years brought continued schooling alongside high-profile shows, among them a hometown performance with Wilco, slots at Coachella and Central Park’s SummerStage, and tours supporting fellow Matador act Lifeguard and the Breeders. Now all living in New York City, the members found writing more convenient and returned to Chicago in early 2024 to record their second album with Cate Le Bon. The sessions emphasized space and restraint, stripping away earlier layers of noise and distortion. Phonetics On and On was released by Matador in February 2025.
Guitarists and vocalists Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng first crossed paths as teenagers in one of Chicago’s youth music programs. Discovering a shared enthusiasm for artists such as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, they began attending shows together. At one concert they met drummer Gigi Reece, who had taken part in comparable programs and favored the same music. The three swapped songs, formed Horsegirl, and began performing at all-ages spaces including art museums and youth centers. Their palette grew swiftly, incorporating Flying Nun acts and 1970s German art rock alongside their foundational interest in 1990s indie bands like Yo La Tengo and Pavement.
With help from friends, they recorded three songs in a basement and posted the Ballroom Dance Scene EP online. Positive response prompted U.K. label Sonic Cathedral, home to Lorelle Meets the Obsolete and Ride’s Andy Bell, to release “Ballroom Dance Scene” and “Sea Life Sandwich Boy” as a single in early 2021. After enduring the first COVID-19 restrictions separately, the high-schoolers resumed shared schedules once rules relaxed, attending Zoom classes in the mornings and rehearsing in the afternoons.
Matador, long known for its taste-making roster, signed the group in April 2021. Recording began at once so the album could be finished before recently graduated Cheng and Reece moved to New York City for college. The band tracked at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with producer John Agnello, a longtime Dinosaur Jr. collaborator. The resulting collection blended angular post-punk rhythms, dense shoegaze textures, melodic indie-pop vocals, and experimental fragments, reflecting past influences without being confined by them. Versions of Modern Performance appeared in June 2022, freeing the members to embark on their first extended U.S. tour.
The next two years brought continued schooling alongside high-profile shows, among them a hometown performance with Wilco, slots at Coachella and Central Park’s SummerStage, and tours supporting fellow Matador act Lifeguard and the Breeders. Now all living in New York City, the members found writing more convenient and returned to Chicago in early 2024 to record their second album with Cate Le Bon. The sessions emphasized space and restraint, stripping away earlier layers of noise and distortion. Phonetics On and On was released by Matador in February 2025.
Albums
Singles
