WARPAINT: REVERB-AL SKILLS

Stream: Warpaint “Billie Holliday”

Second talk with the other half of Warpaint up at OC WEEKLY. I did an interview with Emily and Theresa in L.A. RECORD but that’s not quite online yet. (But will be very soon.) I’m really starting to get into this band. Warpaint sounds kind of like Telescopes and Lush and a lot of the spacier British bands from probably ‘79 to ‘93? That’s kind of clinically mathematical as a description but I got numbers on my mind today.

With the long-promised debut EP Exquisite Corpse just out and a just-finished Spaceland residency that left the band tighter and closer than ever, LA’s Warpaint are primed for further exposure. In Exquisite Corpse’s five songs, they try 50 small and subtle things—shy ravels of guitar or stuttered polyrhythms by drummer Dave Orlando, tense basslines by Jen Lindberg that would win approving salute from Jah Wobble, or melodies that stall and dive like a bird interrupted in flight. They positively effervesce atmosphere, beginning songs with barely more than bass and breath, and then roaring toward orbit; they evoke as much “lush” the adjective—heat and fog and a gentle threat of sensory overload—as Lush the band, whose ghostly vocals find respectful echo in Kokal and singer/guitarist Theresa Wayman. There’s even their reverent appropriation of a verse from Mary Wells’ “My Guy,” which adds new fire to the smoky stand-out “Billie Holiday.” (Used with permission, adds Lindberg.)

More here and they play Monday down at Detroit in Costa Mesa—free and their first O.C. show. I hope to get them at Prospector soon with maybe Blank Blue. Watch the blog for confirms.