By Daniel Wipert
I enjoyed Felicia’s piece yesterday, which was a response to my earlier article about female singer-songwriters of the 90s. While we do disagree on a variety of points, I think we both agree that woman are still creating rich and innovative music whether it be popular, indie, or totally obscure. In this edition of New Track Review, I will take a quick look at a few newer female-dominated bands that are creating interesting and engaging music.
Warpaint (Los Angeles, CA)
I must admit two things before I begin. First, when I came across Warpaint’s “Elephants,” I was not impressed at all. I felt they had stylistic similarities to the xx, which is a band who, as I have already stated, leaves me feeling incredibly indifferent. I still don’t like “Elephants,” but the other tracks off their 2008 EP Equisite Corspe are borderline brilliant. The second caveat is that Warpaint has released no new music for over a year, so labeling them New Music might be a stretch. Their debut album will be out this October on Rough Trade, so this is more about anticipating the full-length. I also feel obligated to cover Warpaint because their work is at the pinnacle of American indie music. “Stars” and “Beetles” are both foundational tracks for the future of indie music in the States and abroad. There is simply no other indie band in America making this type of music: rich, haunting, tight, ambitious. They are truly in a class all their own. The debut LP could be one of those albums that will mark the beginning of a new creative era a la Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever to Tell.
http://www.warpaintwarpaint.com/
Tamaryn (San Francisco, CA)
I can’t remember where I came across Tamaryn. I think perhaps I was going through the roster at the small independent label Mexican Summer, who also released records from Best Coast and Washed Out. I do recall being immediately interested in the sound of their songs. Tamaryn is not that far off from Warpaint in their sound. The atmosphere is full and the reverb is deep. This creates a haunting tone throughout their music, but Tamaryn sticks to fairly straightforward song structures. They are experimenting more with sound than with songwriting. Tamaryn recently released their debut LP Waves, and the response has been fairly positive. While their sound is interesting, I am not sure if their songwriting has enough depth to match the grandiose milieu of their sound.
Alice Gold (from just about everywhere)
There are only so many moments in a year when I find a track that is so strange and wonderful that I know there something very special going on. Alice Gold’s debut single Orbiter is definitely one of those moments when I go “WTF… Awesome!” There is some convoluted back-story about Gold. She was poor. She came to America and traveled/recorded an album in a Winnebago. She lived on a houseboat in London. This could all be a smoke-screen for a lack of talent and interesting songwriting, but in Gold’s case her music makes more sense when you align it with her eccentric experiences. “Orbiter” is a pop song that has a hook, sort of. The song goes about one hundred different places in three and a half minutes. Something remarkable is happening here. Yes, this is pop music, but it’s creative and innovative in way that is often incredibly hard to pull off. I have no idea where Alice Gold came from, but she has solidified herself as one of them most interesting and innovative female songwriters by releasing just a single song.