When choosing a band name, creativity absolutely counts. But one must also be sure to steer clear of any musical moniker that conjures up the very antithesis of your sound and style. Like Warpaint, for example.

Warpaint makes me think of Mel Gibson in Braveheart, gearing up for some major bloodletting. Musically, I’d connect the name to something hardcore, maybe heavy metal. Certainly not an all-female quartet from Los Angeles with a more ethereal, meandering sound, which is what Warpaint is (and does). Not that I have an issue with the fairer sex appropriating combat imagery in music; lord knows I love a good battlefield reference (see Pat Benatar, Jordin Sparks).

I was introduced to Warpaint via “Undertow,” a song that appears on the band’s debut LP, The Fool, released in October. Sweetly sung in tandem by Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman with the faintest wisp of reverb and a chorus that’s a melodic twin to the “You just don’t argue anymore” bit from Suzanne Vega’s “Luka,” the first half of “Undertow” comes off like Juliana Hatfield. But beneath the surface something darker lurks, with the song revealing swirling underpinnings that conjure The Cure’s sonic stock-in-trade.

Beware the siren call of the sea, sailor, unseen danger lies ahead. Maybe Warpaint is the perfect band name, after all:

To hear more from Warpaint — “Undertow” is among the band’s more straightforward tunes — check out the “Live In NYC” performance they recently filmed for MTV.

Free download of Warpaint – “Undertow” via Rough Trade Records.

Purchase The Fool via iTunes, Amazon MP3.