Feeble Little Horse Embraces Digital Quirkiness in Bitknot

From the very first notes of bitknot, it’s clear that Feeble Little Horse has shifted into a whole new gear. While their previous album, Girl with Fish, leaned into ’90s indie rock and shoegaze with its blown-out textures, this latest LP showcases a sharper, more modern edge in both distortion and riffs. The digital glitchiness that was merely decorative on their sophomore effort is now woven into the fabric of their sound, becoming a vital part of their evolving identity.

We got a taste of this fresh direction with the standout single, “This Is Real,” which quickly became one of my favorite tracks of 2025. It fuses blast beats, Sonic Youth-inspired guitar lines, pitch-shifted vocals, and glitchy samples, even allowing the metronome click to seep into the mix. This three-minute whirlwind is a must-listen.

Bitknot takes the frenetic energy of “This Is Real” and transforms it into a more cohesive and sustainable experience across its 25-minute runtime. The opening track, “Doorway,” kicks off with a surge of feedback and aggressive guitar stabs before settling into a melodic loop of synths and vocals over a programmed beat. It builds back up to powerful drum hits and fuzzy guitars for the chorus, gradually layering elements until it culminates in an outro filled with beat repeats and vocal stutters. By the end, it feels more like “restrained hyperpop” than “maximalist indie rock.”

“Rewind” revels in its cheesy synths, blending college rock guitar with bird recordings, a synth koto patch, and playful melodies. “Shady” pairs lo-fi MP3 guitars with a drum loop that sounds like it was pulled straight from a 1998 issue of a music magazine. “Dior” even revisits the click track concept from “This Is Real” in its outro.

If “This Is Real” was about trying on a flashy new outfit, bitknot is about integrating those bold elements into your everyday style and making them your own.

While it may not reach the wild highs of last year’s single, bitknot serves as a stronger platform for Lydia Slocum’s songwriting. The lyrics range from sweet on “Cradle” (“I’ll draw our baby’s face / Give it your last name”) to bitterly disaffected on “Upside Down” (“That butterfly was my mistake / An analog of something fake / A metaphor I couldn’t shake”). Slocum even throws in some humor on “Dior” (“He hit my line and said he wants to know his chances / Can’t tell a lie, I told him, ‘Slim like my Virginias’”).

The latter half of the album fully embraces the band’s new digital vibe. “Upside Down” captures the raw glitchiness reminiscent of hyperpop, “Guts” features a chopped-up vocal as the lead melody, and “Shopping” showcases a siren-like lead guitar enveloped in subtle low-bit noise. The closing track, “DMT,” bursts forth with a cascade of digital sparkles and a riff that sounds like someone strumming a guitar strung with rebar.

Feeble Little Horse on Girl with Fish was a solid band, but with bitknot, they’ve evolved into something truly special.