Warpaint, an all-female indie rock quartet hailing from Los Angeles, are playing the Black Cat mainstage Saturday, April 2 at 9 p.m.
At first glance, Warpaint seemed just like all the other indie girl bands that have recently debuted over the past year or two. But the art-rock quartet have been around since 2004, and released their released their debut EP, “Exquisite Corpse,” in 2008. The EP was mixed by guitarist, former Red Hot Chili Peppers member and Warpaint fan John Frusciante. After a lineup change and a tour opening for The xx, the ladies of Warpaint were signed to Rough Trade Records and released their critically acclaimed debut album, “The Fool,” in October last year. Warpaint’s meticulous attention to detail is immediately present in “The Fool,” a by-product of the ladies’ less-than-rushed recording process of the album.
In terms of the band’s sound, Warpaint may be made up of four females, but a stereotypical “girl group” it certainly is not. It’s tempting to automatically associate Warpaint with other new, Phil Spector-esque girl bands that have emerged over the past year, in somewhat of a fad. However, the quartet’s sound is nothing like the noise-pop of rising groups like Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls and Best Coast. There’s no sign of guitar fuzz or pining lyrics about infatuation on “The Fool” — instead, all that is replaced by ghostly instrumentation and Emily Kokal’s fragile vocals, which bear a striking similarity to those of Cat Power.
Warpaint is commonly grouped into a strange sub-genre called “desert-rock,” but the band’s carefully crafted dream-pop is the last thing from sunny. Warpaint’s spooky sound may be absent of many striking melodies, yet is still complex and distinctive, and makes evident the ladies’ ears for detail. The trend of garage-rock girl groups may still be on the rise, but Warpaint’s subtle and excellent first album is a welcome change from the unsophisticated sound of other popular girl bands.
As if Warpaint’s acclaimed releases aren’t enough to persuade, the group has toured extensively over the last few years, and has slowly become known for their captivating live shows. Be sure to catch Warpaint, playing with British electronic band PVT and American couple Family Band, at the Black Cat.
mmcdermott@theeagleonline.com
