Lorna Irvine reviews the new album from 'a band who just keep growing in scope and ambition'.
A dense, claustrophobic sound washes over Warpaint's second eponymous album, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut The Fool. Produced by Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode soundman Flood, his trademark tight intensity is all over the mix.
In the main, there is a continuation of gloomy reverby guitar and chanted incantations which wouldn't sound out of place in the first album, as with the insistent Love Is To Die or Feeling Alright with familiar guitar stabs, but it is Keep It Healthy which marks a progression for the band in its spiralling rhythms, and Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman's vocals, split between defiant and haunted.
Lyrically, there is a more direct dissection of relationships- sick and suffering, or fighting for survival, but also a playfulness in Disco/Very, which takes its sonic cue from punk era acts like The Slits and ESG, all layered squeals and a chugging punk-funk riff- possibly the most interesting thing they have done so far, and a great indicator of more experimentation to come.
Given the right mood and a few listens it gets under the skin, like all the best music. This may put an end to the witchy/grungy labels the ladies have endured for the last three years, and mark them out as more complex. Mood swings were rarely so well captured... a band who just keep growing in scope and ambition.
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