“Powerplant” – Girlpool LP Review
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Two years since the release of debut LP “Before the World Was Big,” Cleo and Harmony are back, with a minimized version of that familiar Juno-soundtrack quirkiness.
Friday saw the release of LA folk duo Girlpool’s second LP. “Powerplant” features Miles Wintner on drums (a new instrument for the group’s sound) along with other departures from the Girlpool M.O.
2 years since the release of debut LP “Before the World Was Big,” Cleo and Harmony are back, with a minimized version of that familiar Juno-soundtrack quirkiness. There’s no more muffled glockenspiels or screaming contests on “Powerplant.”
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The general mood has a bit more rain than the band’s previous work. “123” opens the album with a full band version of Girlpool’s characteristic guitar strums and powerful, lofty vocal harmonies. Despite clear changes to the group’s sound, the lyrical structures are still free-flowing and Regina Spektor-ish anti-folk in spirit.
This new album plays it safe compared to earlier material from Girlpool. The choices made tend to reflect more standard country-inspired, Wilco school of indie rock than the previous records. However, I won’t accuse the group of selling out, because I don’t want to sound like another weirdo who’s just too scared to admit when a song is catchy.
I sat down too fast right as the doors blew open midway through “Corner Store.” It is one of many moments when the new album effectively drops a bomb on the old Girlpool. “Fast Dust” works with minimal percussion and breathy, cumulus vocals for a more sensitive texture than seems ordinary for Girlpool.
Little remains of the group’s original in-your-face-punk ethos. It has morphed into something more mature if the attitude is still there at all. On “Powerplant” all the real bite seems to be contained in a few kicks at the distortion pedal.
The home-grown rock group will be performing at Warsaw in Brooklyn, June 09.
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