Feeble Little Horse
Girl with Fish
SADDLE CREEK
From the outside, it seems things have moved rather quickly for Pittsburgh indie combo Feeble Little Horse. Initial self-released offerings begat short tape runs through a pair of beloved local indie labels begat what seemed like a sudden signing to Saddle Creek. A recent feature even suggested the band’s ambition—or at least their wish to fulfill a specific artistic conception—was outpacing their instrumental acumen.
The reality is far more humble, which speaks to the group’s Rust Belt origins. Feeble Little Horse are simply spread too far between two states and several cities, which makes practice time difficult to capitalize on. Facing careerism, the band was perfectly willing to shake hands and dissemble after the completion of 2021’s Hayday, chalking things up as a fun college-era recording experiment before moving on to adulthood. However, reports from dangerously packed basement shows in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood (and a quick East Coast jaunt with waveform*) confirmed what the Bandcamp cognoscenti already knew: Feeble Little Horse are onto something truly special. We should be thankful they found a way to carry on.
Distilling familiar, if slightly incongruent influences (the smokey indie rock of Alex G and Forth Wanderers, the warped sonics of shoegaze, the collage-of-sound of hyperpop) into an uncanny listen, Feeble Little Horse has stumbled into a class all their own. That the four-piece wields a surprisingly orthodox guitars/bass/drums setup to pull out sounds so alien speaks to the strength and originality of their vision. With the world (or at least those who religiously read music websites) now watching, Feeble Little Horse has delivered the goods and then some on their sophomore album Girl with Fish, which not only makes good on the promise of their early offerings but actually sets a new kind of standard. It’s the rare kind of indie-rock record that establishes its own rubric for lyrical economy and instrumental sensitivity, making for one of the best guitar records you’ll hear in 2023.
Singer/bassist Lydia Slocum is at her best when drawing from the uncomfortable. She has an especially rare gift in detailing desire, expressing both the humiliation in harboring an unrequited crush and the devastation that comes when you finally do get what you thought you wanted. There’s self-contempt dripping all over the page, whether she’s drooling over a sports star’s heroics or simply heartsick scrolling endlessly through someone else’s social media page. There’s pain in feeling unseen, and shame in posting about it online.
On the other hand, between the self-lacerating “nice guy” hiding his lack of depth behind a veil of performative sadness, or the figurative “dead guy” in her bed and their metaphorical baby on her mind, Slocum can't seem to catch a break even when there is contact. In spite of it all, there’s a weird kind of strength that threads through this bloodletting. Call it a celebration in cringe.
Being horny is, at its root level, embarrassing, but it’s admirable to see Slocum investigate that feeling with such plainspoken language. She’s clearly game to probe at how and why our brains process yearning in such a mortifying way, and it’s difficult to think of another songwriter so adept at this kind of reflection. Songs like ”Freak,” “Tin Man,” “Steamroller,” and “Pocket” stare down discomfort with tenacity, and the band matches her in lockstep. Whether drawing charmingly peculiar hooks from shards of distortion, or pulling the rug all the way out for jarring tonal shifts usually reserved for electronic music, they seem to elevate each crookedly poignant line with ease.
In fact, there’s moments here that flirt outright with dance music’s pleasure centers—namely the short but tasty breakbeat blast on “Sweet” and the doppler-like guitar filigree on “Paces.” These teasers paint Feeble Little Horse as far more voracious listeners than the average DIY group done good, further separating them from the pack. With another album supposedly in the can, Girl with Fish’s insatiable approach proves they could go in at least a dozen different directions. Rest assured that whatever comes next will be remarkable.
