Posts Tagged ‘Gigi Reece’

HORSEGIRL – ” Ballroom Dance Scene b/w Sea Life Sandwich Boy “

Posted: November 6, 2021 in MUSIC
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When Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng, and Gigi Reece formed Horsegirl, they were high schoolers who were feverishly getting into different corners of music history and sharing it with one another. That was barely two years ago, and the trio has spent 2021 blowing up. On the strength of a single three-song EP — and “Ballroom Dance Scene” in particular, which ended up in constant rotation on Sirius XMU — the group generated a ton of buzz and earned themselves a Matador deal. So far, Horsegirl favour a dreamy but scrappy and occasionally hypnotic sound, honouring a long lineage of indie rock but carrying it forward into a new generation. 

“Ballroom Dance Scene” enter’s with just a gentle flicker of guitar, before further elements seem to almost waft into earshot, lush multi-part harmonies, then an almost military-style drumbeat, and a wavering synth-line. It is a track that just builds and builds, until it’s suddenly deafening, a wall of fizzing, energetic noise, the words, a tumble of characters and narratives.

If Horsegirl sound this good after only a year together, then I can only imagine how exciting their future could be; currently making a splash on the ever-wonderful Chicago-scene. 

Ballroom Dance Scene b/w Sea Life Sandwich Boy is out April 2nd via Sonic Cathedral Records. 

HORSEGIRL – ” Sea Life Sandwich Boy “

Posted: December 20, 2020 in MUSIC
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The band Horsegirl, a trio of high school friends, is (from left) Nora Cheng, Gigi Reece and Penelope Lowenstein.

Horsegirl is on a race against the clock. The aim to release the trio’s debut album. For one, there’s a pandemic raging all around them. For a relatively new band (they only began playing their first shows in mid 2019), that means their in-person performance and rehearsal time has been drastically altered.

But looming largest of all is the reality of their ages. Band members Gigi Reece, Nora Cheng, and Penelope Lowenstein are all still in high school. And as graduating seniors, Cheng and Reece will likely be someplace else (New York City, if they have their way) come fall 2021. None of this has escaped the band members’ minds these last few months.

Horsegirl’s this Chicago trio sounds like they’ve been plotting their rise forever. The band released a collection of their first three singles on Bandcamp, in which they dive headfirst into heartfelt indie and eccentric noise rock. Their songs may evade big hooks, but they’re so magnetizing that you’ll hardly notice. With immense depth and a palpable sense of cool, Horsegirl share raw scribblings over clamorous guitars, and the result is exhilarating friction

Horsegirl are a Chicago band, through and through. All three members were raised in the city and cut their teeth in the city’s abundant youth performance programs. “I’ve gone through all of the Chicago institutions, I feel — Old Town, the Wiggleworms classes, Girls Rock Chicago,” said Lowenstein. “After taking guitar lessons for a long time, I was like, ‘In high school, I have to be in a band.’ It’s what I wanted to do.”

Lowenstein comes from a “total music nerd family,” she said, with a “crazy good” brother who plays the drums and a father who plays guitar and introduced her to Sonic Youth. Cheng began playing music from a young age and said she grew up on classic rock ’n’ roll. But after ditching music for a bit, it wasn’t until the summer before 8th grade, in 2016, that she joined School of Rock and began playing again.

“Sea Life Sandwich Boy” on Dropkick Records Released on: 2020-01-31