Warpaint — Heads Up ANALYSIS & REVIEW
By: Album Analysis
Tags: Review, Warpaint, Heads Up, Analysis, Album

Published 09/27/2016

For a band that seems to market themselves as a strong and energetic indie rock band with pop influence, I’m surprised that the melodies in this album didn’t do more leading. From what I first heard in their song “New Song” before the entire album was released, I thought I saw what direction they were taking in terms of fusing pop with sophisticated rock. In fact, “New Song” actually sticks out like a sore thumb in this album since it’s the only one with a pop-induced energetic melody. Perhaps that was for the best, since the melody for “New Song” was actually my least favorite in the album. I found it to be rather plain and unoriginal, whereas the rest of the songs had at least some semblance of originality and experimentation in their melodic lines.

That being said, I can’t help but wonder what we would’ve gotten had Warpaint kept working at the pop-like energy throughout the album. It could be that Warpaint simply wasn’t focused on trying to create energy through melody at all, and that “New Song” was just a fluke. However, I actually felt as though a pop-like voice was trying to creep in at some points, especially in “So Good” and “Above Control”, but it was never really solidified. Of course, that was totally fine with me, since those two songs both had nice, respectable melodies. My opinion is that they did let a more pop-like voice in but should have gone further with it so that their melodies would become more memorable and truly drive the music. It happened with “New Song”; it was just a poorly written line.

I believe that Warpaint is talented enough and smart enough to find true melodic intrigue without becoming too ordinary or tween-ish (like so many groups have today) if they continue to work with a more energetic line. The only big problem with the melodies on Heads Up was that they missed the energy and nuance to get them over the top. A few songs came close, and “Today Dear” actually got there, but most melodies never truly got off the ground to start flying. They were solid, appropriate, and unique lines, but they also carried a sense of monotony and softness with them that wasn’t too intriguing. More energy and presence is all that was needed, but a nice sounding melodic journey overall.

There is a lot of great harmonic language used in Heads Up. Most every progression that was used had unique surprises and great colors that worked very well with the other elements of music around it. The best part about the harmonies in this album was that no two were alike. There was no “one size fits all” formula that they used to lay down the harmonies, and they used so many different chordal combinations thanks to their strong musical knowledge. When the bass took the forefront with the harmony as it did in “The Stall”, the music had great life to it.

However, there were two important negatives that hindered this album harmonically. One was that harmony had absolutely no presence in the forefront at times, even though it was still active and producing sound. This separation between the underlying harmony and the more showcased parts of the music detracted from the song and made it less enjoyable. This happened specifically in “By Your Side”, with a few other songs having similar harmonic separation problems. It didn’t happen everywhere, though.

The more prominent and recurring negative aspect was the lack of harmonic shifts or changes. It didn’t have to be full-blown modulations (although some would have been nice), but the cool harmonic loops implemented in this album should not have been sustained for as long as they were without any change. The only way to successfully have a harmonic progression sustain was if it single-handedly gave both melody and timbre a perfect platform and incredible importance that would otherwise be gone without it. The Rolling Stones and Green Day could do it, but not many can. The three best songs harmonically on this album came all in a row: “Don’t Wanna”, “Don’t Let Go”, and “Dre”. They were the only songs that utilized some sort of harmonic shift that came through the texture and fully enhanced the music. Most every harmonic progression on this album was cool and creative; some just missed the next step of what needed to be done creatively with the interesting progression.

Sonically, this was another neat take on timbre by a modern indie rock band. Warpaint went high-risk high-reward with the final product of the sound, and for the most part the risk paid off. Sure, they keep the staple of guitar, bass, and drums, but instead of finding power through volume and non-stop playing, they obtained power through serenity and a unique softness that certainly held its own. The effectiveness of the bass is one that I can’t emphasize enough. The bass did a wonderful job at adding style and virtuosity to an already neat harmonic structure. Percussion was also excellent, especially with its delayed entrance in “Don’t Let Go”.

I also enjoyed the decision to add piano in some spots, especially to begin “Heads Up”, which effectively took over the texture and provided a good sense of calm and groove. They reached their height of timbral effectiveness in “By Your Side”. “By Your Side” had a gorgeous beginning, middle, and end with not only solid use of their base instruments, but also with experimentation of different techniques and incredible motion that was given space to breathe. If only its harmony had played a better role.

What was missing in the rest of the songs was the motion that “By Your Side” had. “By Your Side” was always adding and subtracting different sounds from the texture while building a nice sonic atmosphere along the way, whereas most other songs started with a set of sounds and stuck to them. I was hoping for a better sense of build in several songs, especially “The Stall”, which would have enhanced the form of the music and the overall atmosphere. The lack of motion was really the only negative. Other than that, this album gives wonderful attention to timbre and creates a nice, enjoyable background.

This album certainly has enough strong musical attributes for it to stand out. I believe it is worth a listen to anyone who admires musical creativity within a calm setting. Will it be able to compete with the indie rock giants of today? I don’t think so. While it is a cool album, it could easily be swept under the rug and never reach a very large audience. It will be listened to and appreciated, but probably not remembered by those outside of Warpaint’s fan base. It does some unique things, but not enough to become a trailblazer in the music world.