Pittsburgh indie rock band Feeble Little Horse summons an infectious ferociousness on Girl with Fish that the quartet never quite managed on 2021’s Hayday. Whereas their first studio album was noisy in a way that felt a bit too cute, such tracks here as “Freak,” “Steamroller,” and “Pocket” stir up some genuinely pulse-raising mayhem.
The cuteness is still there in spots, but it’s doled out with restraint, and in a manner that feels quaint and appealingly tossed off. There’s a rattle of cowbell on “Tin Man,” some slight, slippery electronic touches on “Slide,” and, fittingly given the album’s title, a gurgly backing vocal reminiscent of an amphibious creature warbling through its gills on “Paces.”
Fluidity, in fact, is endemic to Feeble Little Horse’s approach throughout Girl with Fish. “Pocket” holds the atonal and the melodic in perfect equilibrium, and the guitar parts stretch against and collide with the drum beat on several songs rather than abide strictly to the rhythm. The band has a fondness for quiet/loud contrasts, frequently subsiding their onslaughts of guitars for a few moments before diving headlong back into the commotion.
Feeble Little Horse also compellingly varies the pacing of the album’s songs, as on “Sweet,” where the band begins with a gradual shoegaze stomp and works up to a fairly fast clip before veering back into a slow, almost dazed trot. At times, you may be left wondering whether this approach signifies poor control over momentum or a cunning maneuver to prevent the listener from becoming complacent. And this feeling is compounded by the way “Sweet” repeatedly comes to a halt for just long enough to make you check to make sure the album is still playing.
The lyrics also move from one subject to the next, making connections often based on sensory details. Singer Lydia Slocum connects emotions to objects, establishing a fascination with the indifference of nature or physical objects, as on the devastating but brief “Healing”: “Paint still washes off/Even after it’s dried/It doesn’t matter/To the sink.” The song’s soundscape mirrors the lyrics’ focus on physicality, with a gorgeous, jangly guitar tones and percussion.
The album’s writing is credited to Slocum and her bandmates, including drummer Jacob Kelley and guitarists Ryan Walchonski and Sebastian Kinsler. Only one of the confessional and funny 11 tracks reaches or exceeds three minutes, and nearly every line consists of just a few words. “You fuck like you’re eating…I’m tired of baking/I’m the only one/Who sees me naked,” from “Steamroller,” is one of the more searingly personal yet hilarious verses in recent memory. Girl with Fish, then, is an economical calling card and the sound of a band coming into their own.
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