On daily basis, I sift via the a whole bunch of tracks that bombard my inbox. On a biweekly foundation, I inform you concerning the two artists whose music most impressed me. This time, Horsegirl’s enchantedly slanted indie rock lives as much as the hype and Seattle’s Delta IV’s synth-heavy space-outs launch you out of Earth’s hellscape.
Horsegirl, “Change Over” (Matador)
Horsegirl are yet one more Matador signing that reaffirms the long-running label’s acumen concerning impeccable indie-rock acts. That is no imply feat in 2025. The Chicago trio—drummer Gigi Reece and guitarist/vocalists Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein—observe within the Matadorean custom of Helium, Pavement, and Circuit Des Yeux: all bands that abide by rock’s instrumental and songwriterly conventions whereas subtly twisting them into fascinating shapes.
On their 2022 debut album, Variations of Trendy Efficiency, Horsegirl purvey a lean, wiry assault that sometimes flares up into clangorous conflagrations (“Reside and Ski”) or will get skuzzily atmospheric (“The Fall of Horsegirl”). Cheng and Lowenstein’s unison vocals carry a deadpan acuity as they battle their manner via the treble-kicking, twin-guitar buzz. That they put their catchiest music, the moment basic “Billy,” on the finish telegraphs confidence of their listeners.
For the Cate Le Bon-produced Phonetics On and On, Horsegirl strip issues again, curb their noisier inclinations, and add readability to the vocals. Frequent comparisons to Younger Marble Giants and Raincoats ring true, fortunately. Album opener “The place’d You Go?” boldly bolts out of the gate, mastering the uncommon artwork of the poised anthem. That is as punchy and satisfying as something the Velvet Underground did in the course of the John Cale years. “2 4 6 8” morphs right into a manic, hypnotic chugger akin to Wire’s “Straight Line.”
“Julie” exemplifies Horsegirl’s penchant for indirect love songs of nuanced ardour. The music has the same coiled rhythm to Can’s “Soul Desert,” however it is a extra pensive, folk-scented monitor than that tense, Malcolm Mooney-sung banger. The reprise of “da da da da DADADA ah” displays the band’s intelligent use of scat singing to create light earworms. “I Cannot Stand to See You” epitomizes Horsegirl’s skill to acutely seize relationship/friendship ambivalence whereas penning memorable melodies that by no means come throughout as pandering.
“Change Over” peddles tart, cruise-control rock that flirts with a motorik rhythm, however chooses to rollick stoically; suppose the Velvet Underground’s “What Goes On,” however drained of decadence. Nevertheless, it does possess a number of the coolest “ooh”s and “la di da”s of the century. “Rock Metropolis” rides a lovable, dubby bass line and vocals that loop coquettishly across the completely fundamental rhythmic pocket, recalling Raincoats at their most light-hearted. If you happen to have been shopping for Tough Commerce singles in 1978-1980, or having fun with them on reflection, you’ll fall onerous for this minimize. Consider the hype… for a change.
Horsegirl carry out on August 20 at Neumos.
Delta IV, “Mists of Tarantula” (1473892 Information DK)
Seattle duo Delta IV’s music launches the listener out of Earth’s present hellscape into a way more escapist zone of turmoil and turbulence: one in every of science-fiction/thriller motion pictures’ charged atmospheres and bellicose battle. Definitely, keyboardist/guitarist Jared Tempo and drummer/keyboardist Michael Schorr are working in crowded territory, particularly within the wake of S U R V I V E’s success with scoring the TV collection Stranger Issues and amid legions of Tangerine Dreamers. But it surely’s been clear since 2021’s II that Delta IV aren’t any mere dilettantes on this subject, however relatively ultra-skilled practitioners of the noble artwork of cinematic instrumentals for stormy, interstellar motion sequences.
Schorr—who’s drummed for Demise Cab for Cutie, Lengthy Winters, and Fotoform—flexes a muscular model, balancing energy with dexterity. Tempo’s keyboard strategies favor grandiosity and ominousness on a galactic scale. They’ve actually honed their earthy/ethereal and grounded/ethereal dynamics, and whereas there’s not a ton of variation of their music, the vibe is bracingly grave and grand.
Delta IV’s new album, Radium Arc, burnishes their spacey digital music to a blinding gleam. The distinction between Schorr’s forbidding slaps and Tempo’s high-pitched and hovering synth melody and drone lends “Polymorph” an fascinating friction whereas on “Remembering Enceladus,” Tempo’s radiant ostinatos cascade towards landslide-causing low frequencies and pugilistic beats. This piece carries the suspenseful air of the most effective library music devoted to scoring crime thrillers. “Multivac” is a methodical grinder of a monitor with a lofty synth motif that would not sound misplaced on aspect 2 of David Bowie’s Low. “Primordial” is funereal but deceptively funky in its appealingly plodding manner.
The album’s most enigmatic, delicate monitor, “Mists of Tarantula” possesses the creeping pressure of British prog-rock deities King Crimson at their mid-’70s greatest, whereas additionally conjuring a poignant desolation and ticking-time-bomb pressure. The relentless upward spiral of “Citadel” is the sort of piece that ushers you to the exits feeling like a triumphant warrior… even when essentially the most heroic factor you have ever accomplished is dashed and slipped by the prepare door proper earlier than it closed.
