Warpaint
Warpaint (Rough Trade)

The eponymous sophomore release from Los Angeles’ Warpaint leads off with droning post-Velvets guitar and a power-groove drum workout. Ten seconds into that opening track—titled, appropriately, “Intro”—we hear a voice that presumably belongs to the band’s timekeeper, Stella Mozgawa. She yells, “Aaack—sorry,” takes a second to recalibrate, and then picks up exactly where she left off.

It’s pretty much the only apology needed on Warpaint. Working with iconic producer Flood, the four-piece has crafted a dreamy opus designed to reel in those who love Blonde Redhead almost as much as the Cocteau Twins. With the ever-busy Mozgawa anchoring things, Warpaint resists the urge to kick out the jams on any of the 12 tracks, the songs instead all about textures and leaving breathing space. The dubtastic “Hi” touches down in a foggy Bristol graveyard sometime round midnight, “Teese” starts with acoustic guitar and then drifts away on a Heaven 17 synth cloud, and the throbbing “Feeling Alright” hypnotizes in the most soothing of ways.

Warpaint floats across the finish line with the lush, gorgeously multilayered “Son”, which ends with Mozgawa’s military drums and exotic all-tomorrow’s-parties guitar. No mistakes are made. Except that, somehow, you wish it all had lasted a little longer.