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Girlpool: Big Production

With Powerplant, L.A. folk-punk duo Girlpool explores alternative sources of energy

“The record-cycle phenomenon is so bizarre and not second nature to us at all,” says Cleo Tucker. “We just love to make music and put it online. And it’s not conducive to product-izing or marketing music. But it just feels really weird to wait so long before putting it out.”

Back home in Los Angeles after a stint on the East Coast, Girlpool—Tucker’s introspective indie-pop band with songwriting partner Harmony Tividad—just released a bold new album, Powerplant (Anti-). Our conversation, however, begins by discussing the series of solo EPs and singles the bandmates released online last year. A song from Tucker’s Looking Pretty At The Wall, the haunting slow burner “Fast Dust,” was re-recorded for Powerplant.

“We were between record deals, we weren’t signed to anything,” says Tucker. “So we said, ‘Fuck it, this is how I operate.’”

Girlpool’s stunning 2015 debut, Before The World Was Big, was marked by its moving minimalism—one guitar, one bass and two voices delivering songs about the fear and uncertainty of living outside one’s comfort zone. It’s also notable in that nearly all the songs were written collaboratively.

“The space we took from each other when I was in New York and Harmony was in Philly allowed us to explore individual songwriting processes a little bit more,” says Tucker. “Which I think we both needed for a while.”

The return to individual writing makes sense—before the duo connected as teenagers in L.A.’s DIY underground, they were individual artists with projects of their own. The more overt change on Powerplant: drums. Whereas the band was previously able to hold a room in rapt attention without them, Girlpool now embraces a variety of rhythmic textures.

“It was never not on the table; it was something we could always explore,” says Tividad. “We didn’t want to reject anything; we just wanted to pursue whatever felt good in the moment, and represent exactly where we were at in that moment.”

In 2015, that meant two voices and quiet instrumentation, allowing their lyrics to rise to the forefront. It also meant exploring how big they could sound under those limitations. “The decibel level you can reach with a bass and guitar and two voices is pretty loud,” says Tividad. “But definitely not what you can reach with a kick drum banging in the background.”

Joining Tucker and Tividad on tour this summer are Miles Wintner on drums and Stephen Steinbrink on second guitar. They’re playing bigger spaces than ever, and the rise from the basement circuit to the 1,000-capacity room came quickly.

“Girlpool was very creatively oriented for catharsis, honestly,” says Tividad. “There were not really any goals and intentions other than putting out music and having people hear it in the local scene we were participating in. Everything beyond playing (L.A. venue) The Smell was unexpected.”

One particularly surreal moment for the band was when Wilco, in an email to fans who grabbed a free download of Star Wars, offered a list of albums they should consider purchasing—including Before The World Was Big.

“Weird, right?” says Tucker. “I grew up loving Wilco. I still love everything Wilco does. There are moments when it’s like, ‘What the hell? This is crazy. I can’t believe we’re playing this place where I grew up going to shows.’ But I feel like I’m ready. I feel good.”

—John Vettese