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Warpaint’s The Fool is the kind of album that justifies an investment in a nice pair of headphones. The sound that this all-female Los Angeles quartet has produced on their first full length album is complex and delicate, comprised of a host of subtle musical touches which add up to a haunting impressive debut.

The first side of the album is especially strong. The first single, “Undertow” is gorgeous; hypnotizing guitar wrapped around a whispering steady drumbeat, all interwoven with inscrutable lyrics from lead vocalist Emily Kokal, which hint at some metaphorical drowning, which the narrator cannot be blamed for even though she supplies the ominous, eponymous undertow.

Band anthem “Warpaint” comes with the same entrancing soft drumbeat, courtesy of talented drummer Stella Mozgawa. A stronger, fiercer guitar loop renders this one danceable though, as the lyrics circle through an entrancing harmonized chant about “the world bursting open.” And the album opener “Set your Arms Down” lays a call for amorous peace over shimmering, hazy guitar and tribal stomp.

Most of the lyrics on The Fool are about relationships, but this is not the kind of trite, cringe-worthy whining that one could find (if one were so inclined) on Best Coast’s similarly nostalgic Crazy for You. The ladies of Warpaint are not sitting at home, smoking weed and talking to their respective cats, waiting for the anonymous male “you” to come home and entertain them. Instead they are envisioned on this album as equals, taunting their men, as on the psychedelic pop song “Bees”: “All the time it took you to get yourself straight, it’s too late, so work harder for the things you made in me.” Here, a desirable ex-boyfriend is acknowledged as having had an influence on the singer (“the things you made in me.”) And yet, he’s taken too long to come back and date the girl he used to have such an unshakable effect on.

The second half of the album slows down a bit. The languid “Baby” drops the overpowering wall of guitar and shuddering drums, delivering a sweet, if a bit overlong, romantic ballad. This is an unmistakable love song, but it balances its devotion and dependence (“Don’t you call anybody else ‘baby’) with an undeniable knowledge of and power over the present romantic partner (You speak your fears, writing in circles…I write of you”). Penultimate track “Majesty” is also a bit of a sleeper, a six-minute declaration of two people’s mutual importance to each other. And yet, on this song too, Warpaint’s message doesn’t falter, as the girls declare to their unnamed partner that “Could it be that I’m your, could it be that you are my majesty.”

There is an understated feminism in all of these songs as Warpaint grapples with modern gender roles as they relate to the 21st century partnership. However, just like the music, the message remains subtle, complex and makes for absolutely gorgeous listening throughout, as long as you remember to forgo the tinny mac speakers in favor of better equipment. The Fool is a splendid debut, representing yet another successful record for this year’s bevvy of all-girl bands.

4 out 5 stars