Horsegirl, the Chicago trio aged 17-19, have released their first single since signing for Matador. “Billy” comes as the beginning of a next step for the band, following three early singles that caught plenty of industry buzz. On “Billy”, the band say:
“There was a period of last year where the three of us spent everyday together writing and recording. It was during this time, when we practically lived in Penelope’s basement, that ‘Billy’ was written. Penelope had recently read about Nick Drake’s alternate tunings prompting her to detune her guitar, while Nora overlaid a rhythmic vocal line detailing the life of a fictional character, Billy. At the time, we had been listening to a lot of New Zealand underground bands (80’s/90’s Flying Nun). With that scrappiness in mind, we worked the rest of the song out through improvising together, and ‘Billy’ quickly fell into place.”
They’re evidently a very well-informed group, especially for their age, as not only do they reference Nick Drake and Flying Nun in the above quote, but “Billy” will be released as a 7″ with a cover of The Minutemen’s “History Lesson Part 2” on the B-side. What’s more, Horsegirl worked with producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile) on “Billy”, and his pedigree combined with their youthful alt-rock piousness has turned out a genuine gem of fuzzed-out guitars and dreamy harmonies.
Watch the video for “Billy” below or listen to it on streaming platforms.
Horsegirl’s “Billy” b/w “History Lesson Part 2″ 7” single comes out on March 11 through Matador.
You can catch them on Twitter, Instagram and Bandcamp, and at these dates:
Wed. March 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Thu. March 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Sat. March 19 – Philadelphia, PA PhilaMOCA
Sun. March 20 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Tue. March 22 – New York, NY @ Market Hotel
