Photos by Dylan Simmons
Fall in Los Angeles is in full swing: foggy mornings and stuffy afternoons, the sun slipping away earlier each day. After braving a particularly chilly evening, entering the Lodge Room felt like a warm embrace. Walking up the stairs to the main stage, I was greeted by a crowd in the typical LA hipster uniform: aviator glasses, patchwork arm sleeves, mullets and microbangs. Safe to say, I felt right at home.
Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, feeble little horse has become a growing name in the indie rock scene. The quartet — comprised of guitarists Sebastain Kinsler and Ryan Walchonski, drummer Jake Kelley, and lead singer/bassist Lydia Slocum — first met at the University of Pittsburgh, where the four had been balancing the band while being full-time students. Since Slocum’s graduation last year, feeble little horse has entered a new era of pursuing music without academic obligations.
Even as the band grows, feeble little horse remains true to their DIY roots. Slocum, for one, first learned bass with the band’s formation, and has designed all their album artwork and merch. “Merch in the back, merch in the back,” Slocum called out between songs. “We had a friend screenprint these thermals for us!”
The conversations bubbling throughout the crowd came to a halt as soon as feeble little horse took the stage. Their opening song, “Freak,” commanded attention, as blaring guitars and crashing cymbals instantly energized the crowd. The crowd swayed to the beat, quickly making room for a mosh pit in the middle. Although I stayed close to the walls, I could see bodies sailing through the air throughout the night.
Lydia Slocum’s voice is the cherry on top to any feeble little horse song. Unlike her husky speaking voice, Slocum sings smoothly and clearly, adding a tenderness to the band’s rough-around-the-edges, textured instrumentals.
The highlight of my night was hearing “Sweet” live. The song features both Slocum and Kinsler as vocalists. They split the first verse line-by-line, singing about being attached to something too good to be true. They croon into the mic:
“I’m only down the street /
Can’t keep him out of me /
Inviting me to leave /
See it in everything /
I’m stretching out again /
Feed off /
I’m putting this to bed /
My sickness”
The band’s music video tells a nonlinear narrative. Sebastian and Lydia dress stuffed animals together, which we later watch get run over, catch fire, and left abandoned in a bird fountain. The live performance of the song captures the same bittersweetness, like nauseating sugar stuck in your teeth.
As the night went on, feeble little horse effortlessly turned the Lodge Room into a familiar place. Even as their crowds grow, the band’s closeness with one another has prevailed — an intimacy that they extend to their fans. In between songs, the four chronicled their misadventures in Los Angeles, featuring Eggslut, Erewhon smoothies, and a notable lack of school buses. Their concert truly felt like a gathering of friends at a house show — sharing stories under dimmed lights, laughter rippling through a packed lot.
Feeble little horse presented their last song in sync. They droned, “This is the last song we play and it has always been the last song we played since our first show. If we don’t play it last, something very bad will happen.” As the band began strumming the intro to “down,” the crowd promptly started dancing to the beat. The crowd let loose and moved as one, letting the sound of the guitar wash over us. It was the perfect end to the night.
As I left the warmth of the Lodge Room and braved the cold walking to the car, it was safe to say that a feeble little horse stole my heart.
Check out feeble little horse’s discography below!
