The Chicago trio Horsegirl is nobody’s idea of a typical high school band. But that was their life just a few years ago, playing their finely honed noise pop to audiences of fellow teens.
“They didn’t get it at all, and that’s what we loved about it,” recalls drummer Gigi Reece. “It was really empowering for us, but isolating at the same time, that we sounded nothing like the people we played shows with. And to this day we thrive on the feeling of shocking people a little bit.”
Horsegirl have since graduated, in more ways than one. The three band members (Reece and singer/guitarists Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng) have hit their 20’s, moved to New York where two of the three attend NYU, and made a striking second album, “Phonetics On & On.” Their current academic schedule only allows shows on spring break; they hit the Armory in Somerville on Thursday.
The trio’s friendship was forged over their love of classic indie bands that their classmates had never heard of. Since they were both sonic and youthful, you can guess which was their favorite.
“Sonic Youth was the first thing we bonded over,” Reece says. “A lot of the artists we loved were men in the ‘90s; so we needed to realize ourselves and our own sound. We can’t make the same music, but we can take what we love and add these interesting parts, and use Penelope and Nora’s ‘girl’ vocals to make something that feels unique to us and to the time we’re living in.”
They became a band almost immediately. “It was so genuinely exciting to us and felt like something we had never experienced, because we were kids. We never wanted to stop playing with each other, and that turned into a career. But I remember having this moment when we sat down with each other and set down our intentions — not so much ‘We want to get signed and make a record,’ but the ethos we wanted to surround ourselves with. The ideal we had of the power of our youth at that time, the beauty of how raw we could play together and putting things together that were purely us. Of course we’re still young, but between 18 and 21 it feels like you’re a different person every six months.”
Some of Horsegirl’s own heroes have gotten behind them, including half of Sonic Youth who appeared on their debut. “We didn’t go into the studio with Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley; we sent them tapes and they added parts. So it was a little shocking, but at least we didn’t have to face it directly.” Another indie hero, artist/producer Cate LeBon, took the reins on the current album. “The first few days was our dealing with the starstruck feelings, but that was immediately broken down once we started to collaborate.”
The sound of the new disc is more sparse and haunting, without the guitar distortion of the debut. “Our main goal when we started talking about this record was minimalism, doing more with less, and leaving in the discomfort that comes with open space. People said so much about how distorted and loud the first album was that we started thinking ‘Well, that’s not actually everything we were trying to give’.” So we got more into the arrangements of things, knowing our deep-down freakiness is always there.”
The members expect to be friends and probably bandmates for the rest of their lives, so having two members in college (Reece is the exception) is no big deal. “We’ve said no to a lot of opportunities, but in the end that’s been beneficial. We’d rather have some normalcy to keep us planted, instead of living that drifter’s life on the road.”