Warpaint, 'Warpaint'

By: David Savage

Female bands, as well as female frontwomen, have been more and more common lately, with bands like Haim and CHVRCHES having major releases recently. More often than not, the female bands have been brighter pop-rock acts that are making a comeback in the music scene. This is where Warpaint comes in. The female quartet of indie rockers from Los Angeles released their second full-length album last month. The album is ethereal, yet dark and ominous. The album starts with the strong dominant drums and a grim guitar wailing in the distant background. The track after the “Intro”, “Keep It Healthy”, gives the album a sense of lustrous momentum with airy vocals creating a landscape of sound, echoing throughout the record.

Three years since their last record, The Fool, was released, the self-titled second album has a stronger framework, but also a sense of edginess. The song “Biggy” even starts off sounding like it could be a gritty hip-hop jam. Many of the songs are driven by a prominent drum beat that gives a solid element for all of the other instruments to thrive off of. The record seems to have a late 60’s, early 70’s psychedelic feel to it, vaguely reminiscent to Jefferson Airplane. Many tracks are trippy and psychedelic, like “CC”, which features dark bass riffs and ominous vocals singing “Give me more I haven’t had this before”, giving you a feeling like you are slowly descending down the rabbit hole. Warpaint is a great record that has such a smooth, well-produced flow between tracks that send you in a trance.

Favorite Tracks: “Love is to Die”, “Biggy”, and “Son”.