Horsegirl hive, assemble: The Chicago rock trio have announced their full-length debut, Versions of Modern Performance, coming June 3 on Matador Records, and shared the video for its lead single and opener, “Anti-glory.” Horsegirl will support their forthcoming album on a newly announced summer tour, starting with a hometown record release show.
Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals) and Gigi Reece (drums) are best friends who met through Chicago’s youth arts programs—Cheng and Reece are college freshmen, and Lowenstein a high school senior, so “youth” is a key word there. The trio do everything collectively, sharing singing, songwriting, instrumental, and sound and visual art design duties. They recorded Versions of Modern Performance at Chicago’s Electrical Audio with John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.), saying of the LP, “It’s our debut bare-bones album in a Chicago institution with a producer who we feel like really respected what we were trying to do.”
If “Anti-glory” is anything to go by, “bare-bones” may be a misleadingly modest framing of what Horsegirl have up their sleeves. The band’s output to this point, including their 2020-standout EP Ballroom Dance Scene et cetera (best of Horsegirl) and their 2021 one-off “Billy,” has skewed towards throwback shoegaze and no wave, but “Anti-glory” hits differently. Over Reece’s blunt percussion, Cheng and Lowenstein trade hard-nosed riffs and point/counterpoint vocals, as if they’re singing two parallel songs. Cheng’s dense lyrics evoke anxiety (“Feeding for a foe till it’s found”), while Lowenstein’s are like nihilism’s siren song (“Dance / With me please / If black / Turns to blue / Well, there’s nothing I can do”). The song’s two minds become one in its staccato dance-punk choruses, with Cheng and Lowenstein commanding us to dance as Reece stomps the kickdrum.
“We wrote ‘Anti-glory’ almost by accident, while messing around with an old song during rehearsal. The song fell into place immediately, and looking back, we have no idea how we wrote it,” the band explain in a statement. “As always, this song and album are for Chicago, our friends, our friends’ bands, everyone who can play the guitar, and everyone who can?t play the guitar.”
Horsegirl’s summer tour hits the E.U., U.K. and North America, and includes their first-ever shows in many of the U.S. cities they’ll hit. Their run begins with their record release show at Chicago’s Thalia Hall on June 5. Tickets for the newly announced shows go on sale Friday, March 11, at 10 a.m. local time.
Watch the “Anti-glory” video (dir. Erin Vassilopoulos) below, and find the details of Horsegirl’s album and their tour dates further down—new shows are in bold.
Versions of Modern Performance Art:
Versions of Modern Performance Digital Tracklist:
01. Anti-glory
02. Beautiful Song
03. Live and Ski
04. Bog Bog 1
05. Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)
06. The Fall of Horsegirl
07. Electrolocation 2
08. Option 8
09. World of Pots and Pans
10. The Guitar Is Dead 3
11. Homage to Birdnoculars
12. Billy
Versions of Modern Performance Physical Tracklist:
01. Electrolocation 1
02. Anti-glory
03. Beautiful Song
04. Live and Ski
05. Bog Bog 2
06. Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)
07. The Fall of Horsegirl
08. Option 8
09. World of Pots and Pans
10. The Guitar is Dead 3
11. Homage to Birdnoculars
12. Billy
Horsegirl Tour Dates:
March
16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – FLOODfest @ Mohawk @ 2:00pm
16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Roskilde Festival @ Cheer Up Charlie’s @ 10:00pm
17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – SX San Jose @ Hotel San Jose
17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – Gorilla vs. Bear x Luminelle @ Seven Grand @ 11:15pm
19 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
20 – Washington, DC @ DC9
22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel
May
29 – Allston, MA @ Boston Calling Festival
June
05 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall (RECORD RELEASE SHOW) ^
10 – Giessen, DE @ Stadt ohne Meer
12 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifield Derby
16 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Bar
17 – Paris, FR @ Pop Up Du Label
19 – London, UK @ Paper Dress Vintage (EARLY SHOW)
19 – London, UK @ Paper Dress Vintage (LATE SHOW)
21 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Basement)
22 – London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
26 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade Bristol
28 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
29 – Berlin, DE @ Monarch
July
01 – Denmark, DE @ Roskilde Festival 2022
02 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Upstairs
15 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall *
16 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
17 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *
19 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon *
22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
23 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
26 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
27 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon *
30-31 – Detroit, MI @ Mo Pop Festival
August
02 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe *
03 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
05 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground *
06 – Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus *
(^ w/ Lifeguard, Friko, Post Office Winter)
(* w/ Dummy)
