The weak little horse tends to digital weirdness on the bit node

From the opening moments bitknot, Feeble Little Horse has clearly found brand new equipment. where Girl with fish The blown textures were more of the indie rock and shoegaze of the 90s, and on their latest LP, there’s a more modern edge to the distortion and cleaner cut sections. Likewise, as the digital glitches were mostly reduced to window dressing on their sophomore record bitknot It is an integral part of the arrangements and an essential part of their emerging and distinct sound.

We got a preview of this new direction in the single, which is one of my favorite songs of 2025, “This is real“. It mixes blast beats with Sonic Youth-esque guitar melodies, pitch-shifting vocals, and groovy samples. It even lets the metronome tap briefly on the track. It’s a three-minute chaotic ride that’s a must-hear.”

Bitknot node He reins in the scatterbrained tendencies and turns the “this is real” thesis into something more manageable and sustainable over the course of a 25-minute LP. The opener, “Doorway,” begins with a shout of feedback and a series of guitar stabs before settling into a small melodic loop of synths and vocals over a programmed drumbeat. It drifts back into the big drum hits and fuzzy guitars for the chorus, gradually adding elements before collapsing into a finale of repetitive percussion and vocal stuttering. It’s more “restrained pop” than “extreme indie rock” in the end.

“Rewind” relishes its cheesy compositions. It’s college rock and isolated guitars that pair seamlessly with bird recordings, synthesized koto vamps, and meow melodies. “Shady” combines low-end MP3 guitar with a drum loop that sounds ripped from a 1998 release of Computer Music Magazine. “Dior” even brought back the click-track gimmick from “This Is Real” for its finale.

If “This Is Real” was trying on dazzling new clothes in the store, bitknot It’s about learning how to incorporate some of the glamorous elements of this outfit into your everyday wardrobe and make it your own.

It never quite reaches the ridiculous heights of last year’s song, but it’s a better showcase for Lydia Slocum’s songwriting. The lyrics veer from cute on “Cradle” (“I’ll draw our baby’s face / Give him your last name”) to searing resentment (“That butterfly was my fault / A resemblance to something fake / A metaphor I can’t shake off”) on “Upside Down.” Slocum even had “Dior” jokes (“He came up to my line and said he wanted to know his chances / He couldn’t lie, ‘Skinny as Virginia,’ I told him”).

The back of the record fully embraces the band’s new digital aesthetic. “Upside Down” is the closest thing to raw glitch in Hyperpop, “Guts” features a clipped vocal as the main melodic instrument, and “Shopping” has a siren-like lead guitar drenched in low-bit noise. The closer, “DMT,” explodes from the speakers with a barrage of digital brilliance and a tone that sounds like someone playing a guitar suspended from rebar.

The weak little horse on Girl with fish With a great band, but they felt like kind of a throwback. on bitknotThey became something more, something special.

The weak little horse bitknot Available now on bandcamp And most major streaming platforms, incl Goz, Deezer, Apple music, YouTube Musicand Spotify.