Girlpool are a tweemo duo playing the Chapel this week

Girlpool (photo: Kacie Tomita)

Girlpool is the definition of tweemo. I mean like Sarah Records twee and Saddle Creek emo meeting somewhere along the way and becoming one. I mean they could probably work really well on a bill alongside the Softies, even better if Death Cab For Cutie or Bright Eyes were headlining. Just like the Softies, Girlpool is known for their minimalist approach to music (though their new album Powerplant is the first to have drums). Just like the Saddle Creek emos, Girlpool focuses on lyrics and makes you cling to their emotions, making them feel like your own.

Girlpool is a band that could ever only exist now, because 20 years ago the bands that inspired them either were not a thing yet, or music from them was not easily attainable. Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad are in their early 20s, so they would have been babies 20 years ago. As much as I like the image of really cool emo babies and toddlers crying to Bright Eyes, that is not how Girlpool came into existence. Girlpool could only exist with Tucker and Tividad, and can only exist now because of the music they grew up with, the music they found along the way, and the music they make together.