Listen: Mid-week Tune – WARPAINT ‘Undertow’

And here we are again in the middle of our week. So there ain’t no better time to showcase a little bit of America’s indiest girl band, WARPAINT. Spoil your ears with a listen to their widely acclaimed and favourited single, Undertow.

I had the pleasure of seeing WARPAINT live in Dublin when they toured here in May, 2011. In the small-ish, intimate venue that Tripod (RIP) provided, the four women mastered a dominant and gripping atmosphere which never faltered in holding the room throughout. At the time, it was unlike any other gig I’d ever been to. Between the overuse of stage smoke and a general quirky, hushed stage presence, WARPAINT certainly lived up to their admired live reputation. The whole performance felt like a trance. The guitar strokes were effortly majestic and the vocals were simply harmonious. I left wanting more.

 

2014 marks the ten year anniversary of WARPAINT. As well as their music, the girls are known for their unique and effortless style. None of the four are the typical LA glam that the media is saturated with. And because they’re not, it caused confusion for some poor fans. One actually posted a Yahoo question, ‘Which Warpaint member is a lesbian?’.

*facepalm*

But as bass player Jenny Lindberg explained, ‘I actually think overalls are really sexy on a girl, but I’m a bit of a tomboy. I like it when girls are more in touch with their boyish nature. It doesn’t mean you have to be a lesbian, or a dyke, or wanna be a boy. I just think it’s cool to be in touch with both sides.’

 
Well said Jenny! Plenty of depth to this group. Do yourself a favour and tune in.

But first, lemme take a selfie.

It is the age of viral videos, Instafame, vlogging and infamous selfies. But if you saw me on a Saturday night, you would find it hard to believe I’ve never done any sort of army assault course training. The dreaded phrase ‘Everyone get in for a photo!’ usually has me diving over furniture and secretly escaping crowded rooms just to make sure my mug isn’t snapped on anyone’s phone. Only when the picture has been taken 10 times ‘just in case’, is it safe to rejoin the group. ‘Oh I missed the photo? Dammit. Next time!’ Lies.

Smart phones and social media are the two key players in this whole phenomenon. Our beloved ‘can’t live without you’ smartphones came onto the market as early as 1993. Arguably though, nothing really made an impact quite like the iPhone after it’s release in 2007. Social media too had been hanging around for a while with sites like Bebo and MySpace. Similarly though, nothing nailed that market quite like the giant that is Facebook. We could now take photos on our phones – genius! We could now access social media on our phones – genius! Pretty soon, we teamed the two and began documenting our lives through our phones.

But the life documentation isn’t limited to Facebook. Oh not even nearly. With an overwhelming amount of apps available, we can showcase our life in any which way we please. For the picture lovers, there is Instagram. A photo orientated platform that allows users to build a profile made of their own personal images. Document their lives through pictures, if you will. The use of ‘filters’ was no doubt the luring factor with Instagram. Users have 20 choices of filter to apply to their ordinary snap in order to make it look hipstah. Pop a sepia filter on your photo for an instant retro feel. Even if you are holding an iPad… using airplane wifi… at least it looks retro.

To be a fun burglar for juuust a minute, I have to address the crucial point about all of these platforms is that it exposes people like never before. The entire world can see what you ate for breakfast. Literally. Because for some Instagram users, that’s about the extent of their creativity. (I’m not completely innocent of this, I will admit). Whatever about the dangers this potentially causes us down the line with employers etc., the question I find hardest to tackle, is why do we do it? Why do we feel the need to take a perfectly positioned photo of our poached eggs and upload it with a black and white filter, captioned #breakfast #skinnybitches #eatclean? Or more commonly, tilt the head, pout the lips and take a picture of ourselves… #selfie #ducklips #dontcurr? Is it for the hope of gaining followers and becoming Insta-famous? Is it vanity and the hope of getting ‘likes’ and comments on our photo? Is it to portray a life on camera that we don’t actually lead?  Whatever the reason, selfies don’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon. I’m still very much on the fence on how to approach the phenomenon. I don’t care if no one likes my photo, and yet I sorta do. I don’t want to take a picture of myself, and yet I kinda do.

 
Is this a case of ‘can’t beat em, join em’?  Andy Warhol did say ‘In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes’. Is it time?