Albums to watch

Warpaint

Warpaint

Warpaint

Sophomore album from LA-based indie rock quartet. Mixed by the legendary Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich

ADM rating[?]

7.2

Label
Rough Trade
UK Release date
20/01/2014
US Release date
21/01/2014
  1. 10.0 |   Art Rocker

    The album is magnificent, and is certainly the right record for them to have put their name to. It left me breathless
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  2. 9.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    It’s truly a triumph for a group of women whose colors are singular and run incredibly deep
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  3. 9.0 |   God Is In The TV

    It’s even more atmospheric than the first album, and while it isn’t an album that may grab you from the first listen, repeated listens will reap dividends
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  4. 9.0 |   NME

    It's immensely fulfilling. Warpaint haven't just learned to read each other, they've learned to read their audience. Print edition only

  5. 8.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Warpaint have utilised a broad spray of genres on Warpaint, from military dirge on “Son” to foktronica on “Teese”, to sculpt the blanketing tones. Each track may end in a similar location, but they all take different routes
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  6. 8.5 |   The 405

    On their debut the Californian quintet hinted that they could be one of the brightest stars of the current crop, and although they went dark for a few years, they're back bigger and more full of life, and making good on that promise
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  7. 8.0 |   The Independent

    Mostly, though, this lingered-over comeback offers sumptuous returns for those prepared to linger over it
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  8. 8.0 |   Crack

    Where their 2010 debut The Fool took its cues from slowcore revisionism and being an anhedonic Briton in the ‘80s, Warpaint is much less encumbered by the past, more informed by the Californian High Desert
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  9. 8.0 |   Digital Spy

    Warpaint has a much more brooding sense of menace compared to its predecessor
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  10. 8.0 |   Paste Magazine

    Warpaint 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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  11. 8.0 |   Clash

    As with their debut, there is always the trepidation that some might find Warpaint’s more obscure tracks a little dull. But in an era where Avicii and OneRepublic top charts, let’s stick to the positive opposite opinion
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  12. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Warpaint 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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  13. 8.0 |   Mojo

    The twilit fug of Warpaint is hypnotic, erotic, and rewards the close listening its hushed grooves and harmonies invite. Print edition only

  14. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    It emerges as a courageous and uncommonly focussed piece; a tacit dismissal of the constraints and expectations of guitar pop
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  15. 8.0 |   DIY

    The Fool’ was wonderfully muddied and submerged, while ‘Warpaint’ zooms for the stratosphere
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  16. 8.0 |   The Fly

    ‘Warpaint’ smartly switches the emphasis to make the band’s secret weapon — the telepathic interplay between bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg and drummer Stella Mozgawa...a well-rounded and mature second album
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  17. 8.0 |   Q

    A record that reveals its secrets slowly, making its presence felt with a sudden chill, a creaking door, a message scrawled on the mirror. Print edition only

  18. 8.0 |   Time Out

    Sometimes sweet, always sexy and often downright scary, ‘Warpaint’ is a thoroughly intoxicating listen. Just don’t try to fathom its enigma – it’s bottomless
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  19. 8.0 |   State

    One can’t help admire the single-mindedness of what Warpaint have created here
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  20. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    Sonically, many of the songs exude an intense, intoxicated arousal, with lip-fattening blood rushes, grotty cinematic witching-hour horniness and David Lynchian daydream fucks
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  21. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    Warpaint is a slicker, more relaxed outing from an already comfortable band that has been playing together for a decade
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  22. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    It makes this enveloping album the perfect backdrop for your next midnight séance or moonlit dance party
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  23. 7.0 |   Spin

    Finally, a perfect balance of entropy and coherence. It has a destination, and it gets there, and you don't nod off along the way
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  24. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    Warpaint practically demands multiple listens for taking everything in. Where a song might call for a melodic core, rewards come in the unique ways Warpaint chooses to carry it
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  25. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Warpaint is an album that avoids the inevitable sophomore slump accusations because the band isn’t trying to replicate that first album
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  26. 7.0 |   Fact

    All 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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  27. 6.7 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    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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  28. 6.0 |   The Digital Fix

    A record of theirs entitled Warpaint should be something. Instead, it’s just something else to listen to
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  29. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    Even songs that drift aimlessly are anchored by a robust thread of murky alt.rock, demonstrating a definite progression without the band disregarding their strength
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  30. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Some 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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  31. 6.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    It 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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  32. 6.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Given 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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  33. 6.0 |   Uncut

    Their wan vocals mostly belie the high-stakes emotions of their flimsy lyrics. Print edition only

  34. 6.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Altogether, it’s a largely engaging affair with beguiling turns that ought to soothe a relentlessly knowing generation. But after tackling those lyrical tentacles, too often the listener’s prize is to grasp for the sweet redemption of a tune
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  35. 6.0 |   The List

    It’s their finest moment to date, an exotic beast which toys with the senses for nigh on five minutes and still leaves you wanting more
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  36. 5.7 |   Pitchfork

    As the saying goes, time is money and Warpaint is the sound of both disappearing into the void
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  37. 5.0 |   No Ripcord

    Warpaint are very much an Ikea act... both are in the puzzling position of frequently pulling off genuine style and sophistication, but occasionally slipping up on the absolute basics
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  38. 4.0 |   The Observer

    The eagerly awaited second album from California's Warpaint has its moments, but mostly it's hip aural wallpaper
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  39. 2.0 |   The Arts Desk

    At no point is there a hint of a groove or hook
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Warpaint: Warpaint

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Intro £0.89
  • 2. Keep It Healthy £0.89
  • 3. Love Is to Die £0.89
  • 4. Hi £0.89
  • 5. Biggy £0.89
  • 6. Teese £0.89
  • 7. Disco//very £0.89
  • 8. Go In £0.89
  • 9. Feeling Alright £0.89
  • 10. CC £0.89
  • 11. Drive £0.89
  • 12. Son £0.89
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