Warpaint

With so many tripped-out bedroom projects making the rounds these days, Warpaint’s debut feels like an extra-necessary breath of fresh, albeit anguish-filled, air. On The Fool, these four Los Angelenos (collectively vocalist/guitarist Emily Kokal, vocalist/guitarist Theresa Wayman, bassist/vocalist Jenny Lee Lindberg, and drummer/keyboardist Stella Mozgawa) dish up nine tracks’ worth of psych-inspired, quasi-shoegaze dream pop. Genre-wise, Warpaint may sound all over the map, but in practice The Fool is as cohesive as it gets; hauntingly sleepy harmonies combine with subtle percussion and guitar lines that wax and wane in their severity, but remain delicately constructed throughout. Most importantly, though, the lyrics stand up to the instrumentation, elevating tracks like “Undertow” and “Set Your Arms Down” from driving jams to creepy, beautiful pop masterpieces.