Album Review: Warpaint, Heads Up

When bands state their intention to get “experimental”, it usually means nothing more than adding some keyboards. To their credit, LA art-rock collective Warpaint walk it like they talk it on their third record, Heads Up, a genuinely daring effort.

Kicking off with the sparse electro number ‘Whiteout’, the album goes on to take a series of fascinating stylistic detours. Both the title track and ’New Song’ are juddering punk-funk workouts that would do James Murphy proud, while ‘The Stall’ shows that Radiohead have some serious new competition in the avant electro stakes. ‘Don’t Wanna’ is a down-tempo gem with echoes of Massive Attack, and best of all is ‘Dre’, a delicious slice of hazy hip-hop that would fit nicely into the discography of the titular producer.

Heads Up is a superb album by one of US alt.rock’s most talented bands.