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Jan 21, 2014Although it’s admittedly a patient listen, Warpaint plucks at a different petal each time through it in its entirety. It’s truly a triumph for a group of women whose colors are singular and run incredibly deep.
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Jan 21, 2014This is a deeply personal record, unequivocally sensual.
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Jan 21, 2014Even though Warpaint's songs take their time, once they sink in, they stick around.
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Jan 23, 2014Whether they're delivering something rocking, glistening or simply breathtaking, almost every song on this 12 track effort is a gem (only the strange sound collage that is 'Go In' falls flat).
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Jan 15, 2014It’s a different sound on Warpaint, that’s for sure, and though it’s friskier and more malevolent in nature--possibly even more damaged and/or emotionally ruptured--they’re far more open. There’s an accessibility, an empathy for kindred feelings.
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Feb 14, 2014They have indeed created an album that is ultimately rewarding and full of musical promise.
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Q MagazineJan 28, 2014It's worth having--just don't expect the act of possession to be all one way. [Feb 2014, p.110]
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MojoJan 23, 2014The twilit fug of Warpaint is hypnotic, exotic, and rewards the close listening its hushed grooves and harmonies invite. [Feb 2014, p.94]
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Jan 22, 2014A rare example of an eponymous album where the title feels wholly appropriate.
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Jan 21, 2014Mostly, though, this lingered-over comeback offers sumptuous returns for those prepared to linger over it.
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Jan 21, 2014Producer Flood (PJ Harvey, Sigur Rós) maintains the band’s raw appeal but lightly varnishes the sound to make the music’s intricacies truly glow amidst the atmospherics.
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Jan 21, 2014Expansive and enveloping at the same time, this set of songs puts Warpaint's past and future in perfect balance--one of the best things a band can do on their second album.
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Jan 21, 2014Warpaint have crafted an album that is ultimately rewarding and full of promise, with the listener excited to see Warpaint push their vision further, believing that the road is worth the effort.
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Jan 16, 2014In Warpaint, they've mastered the mid-tempo come-on, being to indie rock what Aaliyah was to R&B.
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Jan 14, 2014Get taken away by the current, and float inside every melody. It’s more intoxicating than even the most lucrative bar deal on Jägerbombs.
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Jan 14, 2014Warpaint appear to have found a sonic texture that befits their knack for writing elegant, sinuous songs, so for the most part the album flows perfectly.
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Jan 14, 2014A well-rounded and mature second album.
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Jan 14, 2014The LA foursome’s second LP, Warpaint, is as devastatingly brooding as ever.
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MagnetFeb 21, 2014The band reemerges from the California desert four years later with a self-titled sophomore effort that's every bit as satisfying as its predecessor. [No. 106, p.60]
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Jan 21, 2014Warpaint is a slicker, more relaxed outing from an already comfortable band that has been playing together for a decade. But it fades down the stretch, dulling the focus and strength of the first six songs and, ultimately, the whole record.
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Apr 21, 2014Their sound isn’t one that’s been carved out necessarily; it’s always been there since Exquisite Corpse, but only more recently has it been developed (perhaps because of the aid of top-name producers).
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Jan 21, 2014It’s not always clear where these songs go, but coming back to them, you start to appreciate the understatement.
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Jan 21, 2014This album is the first time that all of the band members have worked together on creating songs, and it makes a significant difference in their sound without disturbing the band’s core.
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Jan 21, 2014On their self-titled follow-up, the all-female quartet's gift for ringing, skeletal guitar lines, slyly defiant lyrics and keening melodies remains intact.
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Jan 21, 2014The growth is immense, occasionally breathtaking, and always immediate.
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Jan 21, 2014While the new album is hardly a Wall of Sound production, headphones are recommended for the rewards afforded by a more intimate listen.
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Jan 21, 2014Overall it's the atmosphere that haunts the album that will stick with you, assuredly.
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Jan 17, 2014All in all, it’s as if the watery concoction of before has been distilled into a potent musical treacle--richer in atmosphere, sharper, artistically decisive and intoxicating.
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Alternative PressJan 17, 2014Warpaint were more consistent before this, but as a comparative misstep, Warpaint still yields an enjoyable, haunting outpouring of whispered emotional damage and spatial exploration. [Feb 2014, p.94]
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Feb 10, 2014Every instrument, including the vocals, reverberates and interplays with the next in order to create a meandering backbeat that refuses the rhythmic decorum of rock and roll and hip-hop. The girls are onpoint.
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Mar 12, 2014Second LP Warpaint stirs, stews, beats, and swells far more amniotic, evoking the seminal psych greeting, ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space.
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Jan 21, 2014It is a diffuse album, constantly but immeasurably changing its shape and diverting itself when you attempt to grasp it, like smoke. Warpaint’s epiphanies are minor, its surprises few, but the general immutability alludes to vision rather than a lack of progress.
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Jan 29, 2014Given the earthier sonic aesthetic of the band’s previous LP, the gauzy mist of Warpaint may be hard to accept at first, but given time, the record’s sensuality becomes clear, making it more of a next step than a radical rethink.
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Jan 23, 2014There’s a jump in recording quality, but this isn’t always a boon to this sort music and can be a distraction here.... When they put their harmonies in unexpected setting, it works.
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Jan 21, 2014It’s impressively wrought, but save for the more propulsive, swingy shuffle of “Feeling Alright”, there’s a Novocaine numbness about it that makes it hard to love.
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Jan 21, 2014Given Warpaint's complex, operatic highs, its experiments in minimalism and tranquility make for some awfully low lows, but there are worse things than a band that seems to be evolving in two directions at once.
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Jan 17, 2014It feels more like a primer for live shows rather than an end in itself, a set of water colour sketches to be inked in later.
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Jan 16, 2014At times, this sense of vulnerability in the music can grow stagnant and forgettable, but it’s usually pleasurable in the moment.
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Jan 16, 2014Some of the routes it leads you down come to dead ends, but when it works, Warpaint slowly pulls you into its own, quietly captivating world.
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UncutJan 15, 2014The heavy-lidded atmosphere grows stifling on Warpaint, a codeine fog muddled by synthy tricks from the arsenal of producers Flood & Alan Moulder. [Feb 2014, p.83]
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Jan 15, 2014Despite its lengthiness, predecessor The Fool always felt structurally mighty. Warpaint, while a gentler, more complex thing, leans hard on atmosphere and collapses, elegantly.
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Jan 22, 2014They try to create atmosphere in an airlock, lumbering instead of fostering groove, failing to generate any heat or friction as nearly every interesting turn on these songs happens within the first minute.
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Jan 31, 2014Like the super-impositions of the cover art, there’s nothing solid here (other than that all-pervasive bass-line), which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the general feeling of ethereal politeness does rather expose the moments.
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Jan 21, 2014Too much of this music is just hip, well-connected (you can Google their amorous partners, current and former) aural wallpaper, gossamer and murky by turns, undoubtedly very pleasant in an altered state but frustratingly unmemorable.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 47 out of 60
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Mixed: 13 out of 60
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Negative: 0 out of 60
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Jul 12, 2016
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May 20, 2015
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Sep 23, 2014