American post-punk, indie-rock band Horsegirl performed at La Belle Angele on 23 August 2024. The gig served as a stop on the band’s tour of Europe and the UK, whilst also being billed as a Fringe show. The tour commenced earlier this month at the Haldern Pop Festival of Haldern-Rees, Germany, off the back of the band’s most recent record, Phonetics On and On.
The band’s members, Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece were supported onstage by From 2, a Netherlands-based alternative band, who performed tunes from their album Indie Stock as well as new material. Echoing the warm janglyness of Horsegirl’s music, From 2 provided a welcome opening set to the show.
Kicking off with the album opener, ‘Where’d You Go?,’ Horsegirl brought forth, with their tight guitars and joyously incessant refrains of ‘da da da,’ the natural yet measured quality of the songs’ studio versions. The sonic recreation felt striking – my past experiences at the venue have included unfortunate live sound-processing; for Horsegirl to have retained their organicity added to the magic. Amongst the tracks performed were singles ‘Rock City,’ ‘Julie,’ ‘2468,’ and ‘Switch Over,’ alongside ‘I Can’t Stand to See You’ and ‘I Know You’re Shy’ off 2025’s Phonetics. The set included wordless musical passages performed between previously shared tracks, and amongst other material I perceived as new, were fully-fledged songs wherein the band insisted upon ‘dance’ and ‘a world to wander around.’
The repetitive minimalism of Horsegirl’s music is the key to their joy. The returning of the simplest elements: Cheng and Lowenstein’s guitars, their ‘da da das’ and the plainness of the latter’s vocal bring a schoolyard-esque comfort to the listener. This joy does not exist upon the elimination of an experiment either, with the band sounding ever-dynamic in eruptive moments across tracks, old and new.
Horsegirl performed for one night on 23 August at La Belle Angele.
“Horsegirl at Paper Dress Vintage (52158115783)” by Paul Hudson from United Kingdom is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
