Last week in Chicago, Girlpool played live with a drummer for the first time. There’s video evidence; they did a version of “Crowded Stranger” backed Ashley Arwine of Pinkwash/Waxahatchee at the Beat Kitchen. The steady, crashing drums make certain lines sound even more explosive and urgent: “You are a crowded stranger / leaving when I say / that everybody makes me feel the same.” But at the same time, the glimpse into a heavier Girlpool further emphasizes how radical it is that they perpetually choose to put their honest words front and center; staring you in the eyes and forcing you to really listen. Over the weekend, the duo posted a scrappy hotel new song recorded on the road while driving through Idaho. It’s called “Your Heart” and is streaming below. Like most other Girlpool songs, every harmonized line hits as hard as punk drumming. Girlpool’s debut full-length Before The World Was Big is out June 2 via Wichita.
