Versions of Modern Performance

by 
AlbumJun 03 / 202212 songs, 33m 8s
Slacker Rock
Popular Highly Rated

For fans of ’90s indie rock—your Sonic Youths, your Breeders, your Yo La Tengos—*Versions of Modern Performance* will serve as cosmic validation: Even the kids know the old ways are best. But who influenced you is never as important as what you took from them, a lesson that Chicago’s Horsegirl understands intuitively. Instead, the art is in putting it together: the haze of shoegaze and the deadpan of post-punk (“Option 8,” “Billy”), slacker confidence and twee butterflies (“Beautiful Song,” “World of Pots and Pans”). Their arty interludes they present not as free-jazz improvisers, but a teenage garage band in love with the way their amps hum (“Bog Bog 1,” “Electrolocation 2”).

Horsegirl are best friends. You don’t have to talk to the trio for more than five minutes to feel the warmth and strength of their bond, which crackles through every second of their debut full-length, Versions of Modern Performance. Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) do everything collectively, from songwriting to trading vocal duties and swapping instruments to sound and visual art design. “We made [this album] knowing so fully what we were trying to do,” the band says. “We would never pursue something if one person wasn’t feeling good about it. But also, if someone thought something was good, chances are we all thought it was good. ”Versions of Modern Performance was recorded with John Agnello (Kurt Vile, The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr.) at Electrical Audio. “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,” the band says. Horsegirl expertly play with texture, shape, and shade across the record, showcasing their fondness for improvisation and experimentation. Opener “Anti-glory” is elastic and bright post-punk, while the guitars in instrumental interlude “Bog Bog 1” smear across the song’s canvas like watercolors. “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)” and “World of Pots and Pans” have rough, blown-out pop charm. “The Fall of Horsegirl” is all sharp edges and dark corners.

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7.3 / 10

Chicago’s Horsegirl mines a loose-limbed indie rock sound on their debut album, with an assist from some members of Sonic Youth.

The teenage trio's accomplished debut album fizzes with songs that hit the sweet spot between experimental and anthemic

8.0 / 10

The Chicago trio lovingly inhabit punk and no-wave spaces on their well-executed debut LP.

Review: Horsegirl's 'Versions of Modern Performance'

It's no surprise that the Chicago-based trio Horsegirl made their debut album, Versions of Modern Performance, while the members were all in the late stages of the high school experience.

Horsegirl are a young band reimagining the guitar music of the late 80s and early 90s in their own, very modern image.

9 / 10

Horsegirl have crafted a multifaceted world around their music. It's a world of cryptic zines and primitive, hand-painted merch; of lo-fi mu...

Horsegirl are an incredible three-piece rock band hailing from Chicago, Illinois, consisting of best friends Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein and Gigi Reece, and you feel their tight knit bond emanating throughout their debut album Versions of Modern Performance.

8.5 / 10

Horsegirl’s debut album more than delivers on the promise of the trio’s early singles, which sound more like rough sketches in comparison to Versions of Modern Performance’s fleshed out sound.

7 / 10

Versions of Modern Performance, the debut album from Chicago teenagers Horsegirl, is a remarkably self-assured, distinctive introduction

6 / 10

Horsegirl's guitar tones are alternately cool and abrasive, and that sound sets the template for the band's mixture of indie, punk, and art-rock.

9.0 / 10

Versions of Modern Performance by Horsegirl Album review by Paul Brown. The Chicago trio's debut album drops on June 3, via Matador Records

A debut album drawing on shoegaze, jangle, grunge and alt-rock is saved from nostalgia by the sheer quality of the music

65 %

84 %

Debut album by Chicago teenage trio shows promise but leans heavily on its influences

7 / 10