Warpaint’s bassist throws a bleak dance party on her solo debut
Like all the coolest bass players, Jenny Lee Lindberg came to the instrument late. Inspired by dance, her first love, she began playing at 19 and quickly helped the L.A. foursome Warpaint develop its sound: sensual, somnambulant post-punk, like Bananarama gone zombie. On her solo debut, Lindberg sheds her surname and much of the hypnotic beauty that characterizes her main band, emerging with a set of bleaker, tauter, more tangled-up tunes.
As long as she keeps things moving, Lindberg cruises through this early-’80s underworld without losing her way. The album is bookended by the drum-less bummers “Blind” and “Real Life,” both of which of drag past the four-minute mark. In between, it’s gothic grooves and menacing hooks galore—some aided by Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa and Broken Bells guitarist Dan Elkan.
