Warpaint
Warpaint
17 January 2014
Rough Trade
4 stars out of 5
LA’s all-female Warpaint shift to a less guitar-oriented
sound on their eponymous second album. The results feel straight out of all of
the best parts of the post-punk/dream pop scene of London
“Keep It Healthy” grasps the listener’s hand early on and
tugs him into Warpaint’s subtle world
of hints and suggestions. Nothing here is direct. We have a sense of the band
hiding behind the trees, but mostly we can hear just the wind in the red and
yellow autumn foliage, the rattling of the drying-out branches against each
other. We’re alone with our thoughts and the simultaneously cold/distant and
warm/comforting sounds of the record. Until “Disco//Very,” that is. The band
ambushes us where the trail narrows, assaulting us with a beat and a groove
that we can’t deny. The song propels the album to an ecstatic climax before
Kokal breathes out exhaustedly, “I’ve made room for everyone. I need to take a
break.” A couple of tracks later comes the near-perfect “Feeling Alright.” The
song sounds like a collaboration between Violator-era Depeche Mode (possibly
due to Flood’s production) and The Sundays, with The xx sitting in on the
session. It’s 3:33 of your life that you’ll want to put on repeat. Then follows
“CC,” a gloomy march of layered vocals which would be at home on Curve’s Cuckoo.
But Warpaint saves
the best for last. “Drive” is an epic dream pop anthem worthy of inclusion
among the best songs of the genre, and the album’s closer “Son,” built on a few
simple piano chords, makes it clear that real emotion, not affected style, is
the driving force behind Warpaint’s music.
Lindberg’s husband Chris Cunningham filmed a documentary to
accompany the album which is set to be released shortly.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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