Girlpool - Powerplant

Rating:

Flowing, folky tracks with a punk edge.

Entwining delicacy and fervour, the follow-up to 2015’s ‘Before The World Was Big’ from Girlpool is a well-constructed affair that shows growth, building on what they're best at.

Singing with light, ghostly vocals, Cleo and Harmony know how to add innocence to already fragile tracks. That’s not to say the punk in “folk-punk” has gone; the guitars still cut through.

Opener ‘123’ starts proceedings off with a docile guitar pattern that makes way for some of those vulnerable vocals, leading to a rupture of drums crashing and that guitar pattern picking up in volume.

There's a beauty and playfulness that flows throughout, complementing a streak of realism and confrontation. 'Powerplant' is an album filled with flowing, folky moments in abundance and a punk edge that highlights the tracks' underlying delicacy. Steven Loftin