Album of the Week: Powerplant by Girlpool

Girlpool, the punk answer to Kimya Dawson,  has released their second album Powerplant.

Image Credit: NPR

Girlpool are adroit architects of sincere, simple punk music. The new album has shown a development in sound from the group, with stronger guitar projection and a fuller soundscape. Despite the addition of drums, you can still rely on their vocals, with the ability to flicker between penetrating and dreamy in a single song, to remain the focal element of each song. Their ability to be simultaneously vulnerable yet unflinchingly assured is captivating.

Powerplant is an album that shows the maturing of its members in its lyrics. The songs are less infused with a certain teenage angst about exploration and discovery of the world at large but now showing a distinct aptitude for introspection, while maintaining their much-loved candour.

Harmony explained in an interview with The Fader, “I wanna play music forever, and if I wanna do that, I have to have some sort of openness to the fact that I’m putting my emotions on the line,” she goes on “I have a hard time stopping myself from being myself, like, at any point. In certain moments, I wish that I could hold back my personhood more, but it’s hard to not fully exist.”

Image Credit: The Fader

They were originally founded from playing in a band with three other friends but upon realising their similar music directions they decided to go it alone. The band has officially become a trio with this album, following the addition of Miles Wintner on drums to the line-up of best friends Cleo Tucker on guitar and Harmony Trividad on bass.

Based in Los Angeles, the duo originally captured audience attention with the release of their self-titled E.P. in 2014, followed by their 2015 album Before The World Was Big. Their folk punk two-piece gained fans among the DIY rock community with their candid lyrics about youth, haunting harmonies and raw, blunted sound, their hallmark that have carried into their new album.

They currently have a U.S. and European tour planned throughout May until September. You can find out more about dates and tickets on the Girlpool website.

You can listen to their new album Powerplant below.