The music of Los Angeles all-female quartet Warpaint defies easy categorization — they've been called everything from moody postpunk to ketamine hip-hop to spooky psychedelic. But the beauty of Warpaint's free-floating sound is that there's no need to pigeonhole it into a single genre. The band's sophomore album, Warpaint, is composed of deep, jam-like grooves and simple interwoven melodies that confidently mesh all of the band's influences into something wholly new.
So perhaps it isn't a surprise that bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg's favorite songs run the gamut from reggae to '80s synth pop. As the band embarks on a world tour to promote their first record in four years, Lindberg spoke to The Week via email about songs that are instant classics, and the beauty of the tracks that require a closer listen before you appreciate them. Below, seven of her favorite songs:
1. Siouxie and the Banshees, "Umbrella"
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"This song has an amazing drum beat — it's kind of on an off beat but it's consistent, so you really have a chance to trance out. The guitars are creepy and eerie but also beautiful, and the vox are primal and amazing as per usual. All around this song hits home hard!"
2. Sea and Cake, "Bird and Flag"
"This song never gets old. It has a sense of nostalgia about it...it makes me so happy, yet also a little sad, at the same time it's makin' me boogie. That's all prerequisites for a perfect song, in my opinion. I have listened to this song 100,000 times or more, and it still gives me chills."
3. Sonia Spence, "Jet Plane"
"This song is such a sensual, sad, beautiful, sexy love song. Sonia's voice is angelic and raspy...a classic."
4. The Stranglers, "Golden Brown"
"A happy but terribly sad tune. I love this track. It's another classic song that pretty much never gets old."
5. The Smashing Pumpkins, "Luna"
"This song makes me feel forever 13 in the best way...there are so many memories attached to it. It's such a beautiful, droned-out Pumpkins song that it will always make the playlist."
6. Toots and the Maytals, "Pressure Drop"
"Feel like skankin' or just being in an all-around awesome mood? Put this one on."
7. Depeche Mode, "Love in Itself"
"I love this song, because it took a minute for me to get into it. I had to really work for it, but now my appreciation for it is greater than I could have imagined. It has such amazing sinister synth lines, and a funky beat all the way through."
Warpaint is out now on Rough Trade.
(This interview was condensed and edited by Samantha Rollins.)
Watch Warpaint perform "Love Is to Die" below:
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