The Key Studio Sessions: Girlpool

The first time I saw Girlpool, they weren’t yet a Philadelphia band – they were the LA duo on tour with Slutever playing a basement in Kensington back in October. Not too many people knew them, but they had the whole room’s undivided attention. Guitar and bass, captivating vocal harmonies, no drums or excessive instruments getting in the way of powerful lyrics by Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad. They songs are very honest and direct vignettes – stories populated by busted dudes and stressful friends and family members they love – and yeah, it may very well be no more than the thoughts and observations of two people going about their day with no intended greater significance. But Girlpool’s songs do work on another level, painting an incredibly detailed picture of what it’s like to be a woman and young in America in 2015. All sides of that experience: strengths, insecurities and awkwardness, inequities, humor. Watching this as a dude in his 30s, I knew this perspective wasn’t one I could ever fully understand, I knew these songs weren’t exactly intended for me  – but they spoke to me all the same.

Girlpool was hands down the best band I found out about last fall. So when I learned they were moving to Philly as their burgeoning music career moved forward, I was ecstatic. They settled in West Philly in January and commenced gigging around the local punk scene and putting the finishing touches on their LP Before The World Was Big, out in June on Wichita Recordings. (Read Emily Ivy Scott’s interview with the band post-move here.) The songs, like I said, are minimal, but engagingly so – think of Scottish indiepop cult faves Young Marble Giants, or the poppy 90s duo The Murmurs. This winter, Tucker and Tividad came by XPN Studios to record a set of songs from that album, which we’re happy to bring you in this week’s Key Studio Session. The wistful “Chinatown” plays nicely alongside the infectious title track, which ends in a campfire-style round. “I Like that You Can See It” is aching, “Ideal World” is bold. Listen to the set below, grab downloads of “Chinatown” and “Plants and Worms” (from their self-titled 2014 EP) at Soundcloud, and make sure you arrive early for tonight’s Waxahatchee show at Union Transfer – Girlpool opens the show for them as they kick off their U.S. tour. Tickets are still available, more information can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.