hotgirl

Dublin/Drogheda-based act hotgirl started off as a bedroom project by songwriter Ashley Abbedeen, who then found her current bandmates through an Instagram post: guitarist Sophie Boxwell, bassist Jake Hurley and drummer Nick Stanley. A DIY-lo-fi sound quickly turned into something that’s often noisier and dreamier – as you can hear on their debut EP »Sick Sad World«. Guitars fly through the air on clouds of reverb, accompanied by a voice that is second to none. hotgirl occasionally sound like dream pop à la Beach House, but their gestures are deliberately more off-putting: some instruments drop out at unexpected points or drift into dissonance, while the rhythm section doesn’t flinch for a second. At the end of its opening track »Teenage Dreams«, for example, the guitars become oppressive and violent, turning to shoegaze, while »My Big Sister« is more in the vein of pop-punk. You can call this kind of music whatever you want, but ultimately, it’s indie rock more than anything else. What’s not to love?