Making Waves at Sea, and in the Studio Emily Kokal (standing) and Theresa Wayman of Warpaint. The frontwomen of Warpaint agree: In the event of an apocalypse, they would outfit themselves more sensibly than Beyoncé. "You're not going to be wearing a shirt" that is "just barely covering your nipples," Theresa Wayman said of the futuristic video for the recent Beyoncé song "Superpower." Emily Kokal added, "You're going to be covering yourself from the elements." The two, friends since childhood, bring their own formidable style to this all-female Los Angeles rock band. Warpaint's self-titled second album, now out on Rough Trade, is heavy with plush keyboards, adding a New Wave danceability to the band's mix of expansive, somnolent guitars and smoky vocals by Ms. Kokal and Ms. Wayman, who also play guitar and keyboards. Their beautifully gauzy 2010 album debut, "The Fool," earned them comparisons to Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cocteau Twins and spurred an international tour that stretched past two years, including an opening stint for the xx. To recuperate, the band - which includes the bassist-singer Jenny Lee Lindberg and the drummer Stella Mozgawa - decamped to Joshua Tree, Calif., to plot its next record. The process was filmed by the director Chris Cunningham, Ms. Lindberg's husband, for a documentary, and other collaborators fell in. "Warpaint" was co-produced by Flood, who has worked with the Smashing Pumpkins and P J Harvey, and partly mixed by Nigel Godrich, the sonic guru of Radiohead. Days before a three-month international tour culminating at the Coachella Festival in April, Ms. Kokal and Ms. Wayman, both 33, talked with Stacey Anderson about angry neighbors and a week on the high seas as performers on the Coachella boat cruise. These are excerpts from the conversation. Q. One of your Joshua Tree practice sessions was broken up by police. Emily Kokal It's so funny, because we played every day with the door open. Nobody ever complained. We weren't doing anything super crazy or raucous, because there were neighbors. Right before we left, we did the "Disco//very" jam, and that's the time that the cops got called. A neighbor down the street, this older woman, had said that music coming from our house was making her nauseous. The song made the album. Theresa Wayman It's our retribution. We're going to make her sick from here on. Kokal We're going to drop a copy at her house. The new album seems more ruminative on love than "The Fool." Wayman There are so many songs where we actually say the word "love." I do think there is that theme, but also themes of self-discovery, and the act of being a human, just trying to make your way in the world and be a good person. What drew you together as musicians? Kokal Theresa and I both were playing music when we were younger, and we played a little bit of music together in high school. Mostly we were just kind of synchronizing, creatively and philosophically. Did working with Flood yield any surprises? Kokal Flood created even more space than we initially created, especially by the way that he mixes. Wayman Yeah, his favorite word is "zhhhuuus." Sounds like drawn-out "jus." I don't know how you spell that. Basically, that's the word that goes with what he does. He just kind of smears everything, really Impressionist, which I think is really nice. It just gives it all this really washy, sort of moody feel that's not very angular. What was the Coachella Cruise like? Wayman It was a little bit too much. Basically, cruises are set up to be just like mayhem and debauchery. We played a spot upstairs, a really vibey little venue. There was something really special about it, but I don't think we'd ever want to do it again. Did you play bingo? Wayman We should have.