Warpaint Discuss Nirvana Influence On Latest Single

Hotly-tipped four-piece Warpaint have told BBC 6Music of the influence Nirvana have had over their songwriting, particularly on current single ‘Undertow‘ which is enjoying significant airtime on the station.

Bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg told the station how she and bandmate Theresa Wayman built the initial make-up of the single around Nirvana’s track’Polly‘, which featured on their seminal album ‘Nevermind‘. “Theresa and I were just working and I had a bassline,” she said. “She just started singing the lyrics to ‘Polly‘ over that song. So instead of making that a cover – even though it sounded really cool – we said, ‘Well, write your own words to the song’.”

She continued: “There’s definitely a homage to it in the chorus, the first line – you listen to the songs back-to-back they sound nothing alike.”

Jenny Lindberg also commented on the pressure which surrounded the band upon the released of their debut album ‘The Fool‘. “There was always a pressure and anticipation of the album coming out like ‘Oh God, whoah, that’s scary’,” she said. “Now that it’s out, it’s like, ‘Ahh, it’s a relief’. Now we can play our shows and continue on to the next step. It rocks out. It’s also very melancholy, it goes everywhere. It goes everywhere in one song.”

Warpaint formed in Los Angeles in 2004 and count current Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer as a previous member. They released their debut album in October this year.