{"id":1230,"date":"2026-05-31T16:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2026-05-31T16:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:19:59","slug":"feeble-little-horse-bitknot-music-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=1230","title":{"rendered":"Feeble Little Horse leans into digital weirdness on bitknot"},"content":{"rendered":"


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From the opening moments of bitknot<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> it\u2019s obvious that Feeble Little Horse has found an entirely new gear. Where on Girl with Fish<\/em><\/a> the blown-out textures were more \u201990s indie rock and shoegaze, on their latest LP, there\u2019s a more modern edge to the distortion and the riffs cut cleaner. Similarly, where the digital glitchiness was mostly relegated to window dressing on their sophomore record, on bitknot<\/em> it\u2019s integral to the arrangements and a core part of their emerging, distinct sound.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We got a preview of this new direction on the one-off single, and one of my favorite songs of 2025, \u201cThis Is Real<\/a>.\u201d It blended blast beats, Sonic Youth-esque guitar melodies, pitch-shifted vocals, and glitchy samples. It even briefly lets the metronome click bleed into the track. It\u2019s a three-minute chaotic tour de force that needs to be heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bitknot<\/em> reins in the scatterbrained tendencies and turns the thesis of \u201cThis Is Real\u201d into something more approachable and sustainable over the length of a 25-minute LP. The opener, \u201cDoorway,\u201d starts with a wail of feedback and a pummeling series of guitar stabs before settling into a melodic microloop of synths and vocals over a programmed drumbeat. It drifts back to the big drum hits and fuzzy guitars for the chorus, gradually adding elements before collapsing into an outro of beat repeats and vocal stutters. It\u2019s more \u201crestrained hyperpop\u201d than \u201cmaximalist indie rock\u201d by the end.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cRewind\u201d relishes in its cheesy synths. It\u2019s college rock guitar and aloof guitars seamlessly married to bird recordings, a synth koto patch, and meowing melodies. \u201cShady\u201d pairs low-quality MP3 guitars with a drum loop that sounds ripped from a 1998 issue of Computer Music Magazine<\/em>. \u201cDior\u201d even brings back the click track gimmick from \u201cThis Is Real\u201d for its outro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If \u201cThis Is Real\u201d was trying on a splashy new outfit at the store, bitknot<\/em> is learning to incorporate some of that outfit\u2019s flamboyant elements into your daily wardrobe and make it yours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It never reaches the absurd giddy highs of last year\u2019s single, but it\u2019s a better showcase for Lydia Slocum\u2019s songwriting. The lyrics veer from sweet on \u201cCradle\u201d (\u201cI\u2019ll draw our baby\u2019s face \/ Give it your last name\u201d), to bitterly disaffected (\u201cThat butterfly was my mistake \/ An analog of something fake \/ A metaphor I couldn\u2019t shake\u201d) on \u201cUpside Down.\u201d Slocum\u2019s even got jokes on \u201cDior\u201d (\u201cHe hit my line and said he wants to know his chances \/ Can\u2019t tell a lie, I told him, \u2018Slim like my Virginias\u2019\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The back chunk of the record fully embraces the band\u2019s new digital aesthetic. \u201cUpside Down\u201d is the closest to the raw glitchiness of hyperpop, \u201cGuts\u201d features a chopped-up vocal as a lead melodic instrument, and \u201cShopping\u201d has a siren-like loping lead guitar and is bathed in subtle low-bit noise. The closer, \u201cDMT,\u201d explodes out of the speakers with a shower of digital sparkles and a riff that sounds like someone playing a guitar strung with rebar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Feeble Little Horse on Girl with Fish<\/em> with a great band, but they felt like something of a throwback. On bitknot<\/em>, they\u2019ve become something more, something special.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Feeble Little Horse\u2019s <\/em>bitknot is available now on Bandcamp<\/a> and most major streaming platforms, including Qobuz<\/a>, Deezer<\/a>, Apple Music<\/a>, YouTube Music<\/a>, and Spotify<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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