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Reviews

Warpaint, ‘The Fool’ (Rough Trade)

While too many indie girl groups seem content to rebuild the Wall of Sound brick by brick, this Los Angeles quartet dedicate their hypnotic harmonies and guitars to a different cause: the House of Ian Curtis. The Fool is built on Joy Division’s post-punk low end, moody chords, droning vocals, and doomy lyrics, but it’s more than a tribute. “Set Your Arms Down” and “Warpaint” display the delicate angularity of Blonde Redhead plus a freewheeling psychedelia, not to mention the sticky sadnessof singer Emily Kokal, whose intimacy is the perfect foil to the band’s expansive sound.