Horsegirl

As great as the latest wave of '90s nostalgia, especially by young female artists, is, a lot of it tends toward the lo-fi bedroom vibe. Horsegirl, however, has surprising muscle, heft and depth. Which is even more incredible when you realize the members are so young that one of them is only just graduating from high school not long after their debut album arrives. The Chicago trio—formed out of School of Rock classes—knows their stuff: They reportedly cite My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth (including Kim Gordon's memoir, Girl in a Band) and the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke as influences that brought them together, and they chose to work with legendary indie-rock producer John Agnello, known for his work with Dinosaur Jr., The Breeders and Kurt Vile. But all that name-dropping would mean nothing if they didn't have the chops to back it up.

Chicago trio Horsegirl release their debut record, Versions of Modern Performance, on Matador. Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) - the best friends comprising Horsegirl - do everything collectively, from songwriting to trading vocal duties and swapping instruments to sound and visual art design. The warmth and strength of their bond crackles through every second of their debut. With lyrics intentionally impressionistic and open-ended, and a sound that ranges with joy and enthusiasm across a range of styles, Versions of Modern Performance offers many pathways.

Waves of Distortion’ brings in some of the OG (original ’gazer) classics – Ride’s peerless ‘Vapour Trail’, Lush’s ‘Sweetness and Light’ from 1990 and Chapterhouse’s ‘Pearl’ from 1991. They are all incredible and timeless tunes. Then there are some others that were never really a part of that other great music press construct, The Scene That Celebrates Itself, in the case of The Telescopes and their fantastic 1991 single ‘Flying’, and Spirea X’s ‘Chlorine Dream’ from the same year – both are indicative of the post-rave psychedelia that coloured everything at the time and fit perfectly within the Shoegaze scene at the time.

Francis of Delirium is the moniker of 22-year old, Luxembourg-based Jana Bahrich. The young artist’s incredible journey up until this point has seen her release 3 critically acclaimed EPs, ‘All Change’, 'Wading’ and ‘The Funhouse’. With praise so far from the likes of Stereogum, FADER, Pitchfork, Line of Best Fit, 6 Music, Radio 1, KEXP and NPR to name but a few, Francis of Delirium is on the precipice of something extremely exciting with debut album Lighthouse.

The compilation Waves Of Distortion is a magical journey through the history of Shoegaze from the beginnings (Slowdive) to today (bdrmm and Horsegirl, who were not even born at that time).