Feeble Little Horse – Girl With Fish

Feeble Little Horse have emerged from a Pennsylvania music scene made up of a youthful, scrappy anti-royalty, most of which – like me – worship at the altar of unconventionality under the deity Alex G. It’s a wonderful place to spend time in, as solidarity and personnel cross-pollinates creatively, whether you’re listening to They Are Gutting A Body Of Water’s modern shoegaze in Philadelphia, or this band’s dry witted, capricious fuzz-pop in Pittsburgh. 

Some of the tracks from their confident new record, Girl With Fish, channel the spirit of a band like Crying (not from Pennsylvania), guitar tones being warped through a phaser, becoming video gamified, and then reappearing given flesh again, always amping up the noise but never compromising on an infectious melody. Even when a hint of gentleness appears, like the acoustic plucking and mothership bleeps on Slide, they metallicise into wiry wool. Soft is just a precursor to loud.

Their secret weapon though is vocalist Lydia Slocum, who sings about the yearning, disenchantment, and tragedy, of relationships with equal gusto. She’ll be sidling up assuredly to a six foot five sportstar “Freak” (complimentary), then later, on Tin Man, ripping apart a significant other and finding no substance. Slocum’s lyrics give this tight 27 minutes of music a literary might beyond this band’s years.

Listen to: Freak, Sweet, Heavy Water