Warpaint (Warpaint)

THE music made by the four members of Los Angeles indie rock act Warpaint rarely contains hard edges.

Warpaint (Warpaint)

THE music made by the four members of Los Angeles indie rock act Warpaint rarely contains hard edges.

Usually, it's the stuff of film dream sequences: ethereal, emotive and somewhat divorced from reality. This wistful aesthetic worked well on the band's 2010 debut The Fool, and still does four years later.

But it's the seventh of 12 tracks here, Disco//Very, that's most immediately striking. Powered by Jenny Lee Lindberg's busy bassline and drummer Stella Mozgawa's intricate cymbal-and-snare pattern, its opening lyric almost works as a band mission statement: "I've got a friend with a melody that will kill/ She'll eat you alive."

These four are masters of mood and melody, and Warpaint is a fine document of that fact. Three years in the making, it's an engrossing listen from the wordless opening track, Intro, right through to its plaintive closer, Son.

First single Love Is to Die is an instant earworm on par with The Fool single Undertow in terms of sheer accessibility. As before, vocals are shared among Lindberg and guitarists Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman. In Australian-born Mozgawa the band possesses one of rock's finest drummers, yet they're not above paring back the percussion, as evidenced on sparse penultimate track Drive.

It is to Warpaint's credit that their second album is full of interesting and accomplished experiments rather than the comparatively simple emulation of initial success. While it is well worth the four-year wait, here's hoping the band's work ethic speeds up a little before the next release. Warpaint comes highly recommended.

LABEL: Remote Control

RATING: 4 stars