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Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On (2025)

Artist: Horsegirl

Author: Sarah

Date: 12/05/2025

Listen: Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify

A couple years ago, Horsegirl were rising stars in the Chicago indie rock scene with a noisy, 90s-style sound that drew a lot of comparisons to bands like Sonic Youth. I kind of missed the boat on that one, seeing as I wasn't listening to all that much new music at the time and also never cared too much for Sonic Youth, but the discussion around this one had me pretty excited. Fans and critics were in agreement, the new Horsegirl album had the "la-la-la"s and the "doo-doo-doo"s to bring indiepop back into vogue in wider indie circles. It all sounded too good to be true; and, well, it sort of is.

I mean, it's true that indiepop's been on an upswing in popularity this year, and the "la-la-las" of Phonetics On and On are definitely contributors to that. Unfortunately, the album itself is mostly let down by the production, preventing Horsegirl from reaching their full potential on it. In a couple interviews, the band mentions taking some influence from Young Marble Giants on this one, which shows itself mostly in the album's feeling so flat and lifeless. For the sparser, slower songs on the album, such as "Julie", that lifelessness works pretty well, coming off a bit like early Stereolab without the distortion. But it really doesn't suit the uptempo pop songs like "2468", which have a lot more going on, and end up becoming a bit of a mush. There's a fairly decent melody in there, but the rest of the song is going to make sure it never makes its way into your brain. The result is an album that's an agreeable enough way to spend 40 minutes, but not an album that's likely to have an extended legacy.