Last year's Exquisite Corpse made a deserved splash for Warpaint. Along with debuting the California outfit's psych-inflected indie rock, the EP's title provided the perfect adjective for their work. Everything about The Fool is "exquisite," starting with the music's polish.
Unlike other LA indie bands currently basking in the spotlight (No Age, Best Coast, etc.), Warpaint serve up material that's always well produced and carefully wrought. Each instrument functions on a different sonic stratum, and even the most melodic of textures is taut. Great power sleeps beneath the smoky surface, so waiting to catch moments of breaking loose is what makes this a compelling listen. Warpaint have been compared to the xx lately, but the latter are less likely to produce a luminous, memorable payoff.
The Fool feels like a séance, with guitarist Emily Kokal and her fellow female vocalists focusing their ghostly calls on a mysterious "you." (Case in point: "You could have been my king," from "Majesty.") By album closer "Lissie's Heart Murmur," Kokal (or another singer) sounds as if she were about to have the most restrained orgasm in the world. And that, "exquisite" aside, is a pretty apt summary of the record.
WARPAINT + REWARDS + FAMILY BAND | Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston | November 30 @ 9 pm | $15 | 617.566.9014 or greatscottboston.com
