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Album reviews Music

Warpaint

Rating: NNN


On the follow-up to their hugely hyped 2010 debut, the four women of L.A.-based Warpaint cast the same mysterious spell that makes their dreamy alt-rock sound alluring and dreary in equal parts.

Their self-titled release finds the band in a sexier mindset, a decision guitarist/vocalist Theresa Wayman says was intentional. Group vocals are delicately laid over cool bass lines and drums to dazed, harmonic effect. At times, these harmonies come off as cultish, especially on Disco//Very, an all-keyboards-and-drum-machines track that sounds like the girls are ganging up on the whimsical lovesick subjects from the rest of the album.

Overall, Warpaint’s brand of sex is not the spontaneous, voracious kind of the act itself. It’s the reflective aftermath: lying in bed, drinking a glass of water, staring at the ceiling. At times, this sense of vulnerability in the music can grow stagnant and forgettable, but it’s usually pleasurable in the moment.

Top track: CC

Warpaint play the Danforth Music Hall March 25.

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