The Fat Angel Sings

Screaming Females an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on vocals and guitar, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. Paternoster and Abbate had formed a band in high school under the name Surgery On TV. After several line-up changes they finally became a trio with Dougherty and changed the name of the band to Screaming Females.  Their eight albums manage to capture the bombast, excitement, and proficiency of their live sound better than most bands working, 

They released their debut album “Baby Teeth” in 2006. They have toured with bands such as Garbage, Throwing Muses, Dinosaur Jr., The Dead Weather, Arctic Monkeys, and The Breeders. Screaming Females – or Screamales, as they were affectionately known by fans – accomplished a lot in their too-short career. They made eight albums together, from the scuzzy punk belter “Baby Teeth” to the Steve Albini-helmed “Ugly” to the maximalist double LP “All At Once” . This year’s swansong, “Desire Pathway“, was classic Screamales a sharply observed collection of hooky, nervy rock songs full of ripping guitar solos and hypnotic grooves. Paternoster’s fretboard pyrotechnics and bellowing vocals have always grabbed the headlines, but there’s no Screaming Females without the genius-level interplay between Abbate and Dougherty.

As uniformly excellent as their albums are, the real Screaming Females could only be found onstage. They have played around 1,500 shows in total, (check out the documentary Screaming Females Do Alaska There’s a scene where Paternoster shreds out a solo while crowd-surfing through an Anchorage dive bar.

On “Desire Pathway” highlight “Let You Go,” Paternoster sings, “Now the stage is empty, and I am too.” Whether or not that line was meant as foreshadowing, it’s now a bittersweet epitaph for one of the greatest unknown rock bands in the world. 

Baby Teeth, (2006)

“Baby Teeth” revels in its youthful exuberance with thrashy garage-pop, lots of silly lyrics, and even a few forays into ska. Paternoster’s terrific, distinct vocals get much stronger after “Baby Teeth,” though, which means it probably isn’t the album to start with.

“Foul Mouth” is the rare debut-album opener that introduces a fully formed band and establishes the themes they’d riff on for the rest of their career. “Foul Mouth” has everything that makes a great Screaming Females song a techtonic groove; a stomping, midtempo riff; smeary, abstract lyrics that occasionally pull into vivid focus; With a couple of smouldering guitar solos from Paternoster. A lot of the time, “Baby Teeth” feels like a rough draft for what was to come. But “Foul Mouth” is perfect as it is.

What If Someone Is Watching Their TV?

The band lives up to their name on their second LP, also self-recorded/released. Paternoster is shouting her head off on the excellent, Pixiesesque opener “Theme Song,” and the record doesn’t let up from there. The band itself sounds harder and meaner, but retains the charm of a group willing to try any song that’s fun to play. 

Screaming Females’ second sound-defining album, featuring fan favourites like “Starve the Beat,” “Mothership,” and “Boyfriend.” The name of the record is based on something a cop said to the band when he told them to stop practicing because they were being too loud.

Power Move, (2009)

Screaming Females bring the sweaty intensity of basement punk to a new level with their third and most scorching full-length, “Power Move“. Their urgent vocals, gritty guitar solos, and iron- strong rhythms have garnered the attention of Spin Magazine, Maximum Rock n Roll, and everyone in-between. “Power Move” has a startlingly original sound that incorporates elements of Hendrix-like jazz-fusion, screamed post-punk vocals, electrically charged basslines, and hypnotic melodies. In a nutshell, it’s indie rock with shredding.

 “Power Move” is the first Screaming Females record to be released on a label Don Giovanni Records, also based in their home scene of New Brunswick, N.J.— and gives the band the perfect amount of upgrade by improving the sound quality without changing the recipe. It’s the most punk-sounding of the albums listed so far, with loud-quiet-loud dynamics, major keys anchoring melt-your-face guitar riffs, and lyrics that will make your mom ask if you’re doing okay (“The curtains part/The shades are flesh/Second hands turn to knives/You are buried in the nude”). All of this rocking is still accomplished with little to no overdubbing, so good luck being mad that your favorite band is signed now.

Paternoster’s vocals tend to oscillate between a talky, melodic register and a booming roar, but in the early days, she would sometimes also dip into a venomous hardcore shriek. Take “Buried In The Nude,” the closer from the band’s Don Giovanni debut, “Power Move”. Paternoster delivers most of the song in a post-punkish monotone, but a few lines come out as throat-flaying screams.

Castle Talk (2010)

2010 release from the critically acclaimed Punk trio, for the first half-decade of their career, Screaming Females just got stronger with each release. On 2010’s “Castle Talk,” Paternoster’s voice has reached full power, effortlessly shifting from Stevie Nicks warble to wraith-like shriek mid-song. The drums, bass, and guitar are in lockstep with each other from years of sharing the same stage. Musically the songs are more adventurous here— with pretty, emo-ish chord progressions mixed into the record’s hardcore stew. The band started to gain some critical attention from this one, so time to get on the horse or be trampled underfoot. 

Ugly , (2012)

Their fifth album, “Ugly”, was released in 2012 and was recorded by noted audio engineer Steve Albini, “Ugly” marked a turning point for Screaming Females. They recorded the 54-minute behemoth at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini, who helped drag their sound out of the basement and indulged their most experimental tendencies. “Doom 84” and “It’s Nice” aren’t on this list, but they’re both insane and worthy of an honourable-mention shout.

Screaming Females’ seven years as a band, four full-length albums and 700 globe-spanning live shows has made them difficult to miss – Through it all, the New Brunswick, New Jersey trio have continued to exude a frenetic energy which is built upon the zeitgeist of America’s punk and indie underground yet has always remained forward-looking. Fittingly, for Screaming Females‘ 5th album “Ugly“, the band enlisted legendary recording engineer Steve Albini, famed for his unique ability to capture the ferociousness of a live performance while delivering gorgeous sonic clarity. The album’s 14 tracks reaffirm the touchstones of the band; they can still shred and front-woman Marissa Paternoster can still unleash a powerful howl. But it doesn’t end there. The album ushers in new explorations for the band, a truly remarkable feat considering their already prolific output. “Ugly” has the perfect combination of raw energy and honed musicianship that produces the type of rock & roll which is still a force to be reckoned with.

The band’s level-up was evident straight out of the gates, with the groove-drenched album opener “It All Means Nothing.” Paternoster rips wild leads for much of the song, which means Abbate’s bass holds down most of the riffs. That’s a common dynamic on Screamales songs — especially live, where Abbate is frequently the bassist and rhythm guitarist at the same time. On “It All Means Nothing,” he makes a meal out of a potentially unglamorous role, delivering bass riffs that can stand toe-to-toe with Paternoster’s paroxysms.

Even on their earliest records, when they were still fundamentally a punk band, the Screamales favoured a big-tent interpretation of rock music. That makes the punky sound of “Rotten Apple” as precious as gold. It’s still weird and melodic and full of guitar heroics, but it has a casually tossed-off quality that becomes harder to replicate the longer a band sticks together. The thing also just moves, and it remains irreverent and playful for its entire three-minute runtime. Paternoster’s vocal on the self-flagellating chorus sounds like one big ironic eyeroll, but it also shows a range that was beginning to develop new contours. “Ugly” was a transitional time for the band, and the collision of their DIY instincts and Albini’s pro-studio production is never more thrilling than it is on “Rotten Apple.”

With the heat of “Castle Talk” and years of touring behind them, Screaming Females finally got the Steve Albini Treatment. Since there wasn’t much frill here for Albini to trim, “Ugly” goes straight to the work of capturing the live feel of Screaming Females, and gives the listener the sense of hearing them play to a big room with a mosh pit for one. More than anything, “Ugly” sounds loud— Dougherty’s drums are more to the front of the mix than they’ve ever been, Abbate’s bass is rattling with fuzz, and Pasternator takes many gain-drenched, feedback-squealing guitar solos way into the red. 

Rose Mountain, (2015)

For a songwriter who has said she doesn’t write songs that are about one thing in particular, “Rose Mountain” contains Marissa Paternoster’s most evocative lyrics yet. The record addresses dealing with chronic sickness and pain, after cutting the tour supporting “Ugly” short to deal with Paternoster’s initially undiagnosed illness of fibromyalgia. “Ripe” practically dares an unnamed assailant to do their worst, with a repeated plea to “peel the skin raw,” and “pinch ‘til the feeling’s gone.” The only title track of the band’s career is named after Rose Mountain Care Center, a rehab in Paternoster’s native North Jersey that she saw as a child and dreamed of one day going to to get well. It’s not surprising that music so preoccupied with bodies and pain is among the band’s most visceral; it’s lean and direct at 35 minutes, only coming up for air long enough in a few spots to plunge you right back into its seething rage. Paternoster’s guitar work here pays homage to the ‘90s rock legends that inspired her to pick the instrument up as a teenager, and the album’s stellar closer “Criminal Image” wouldn’t sound out of place nestled with the best tracks on Siamese Dream. From the peak of “Rose Mountain” you can see everything the band has done before and after perfectly coalescing into their most cohesive, confident, and yearning collection of songs.

A rock band is only as good as its power ballads. Screaming Females don’t crank out the lighters-aloft jams often, but when they do, they can hang with the best of them. “Hopeless” is their finest hour working in that mode. It’s a breakup song addressed to one’s own body, and a plea for mercy in the throes of chronic illness. Paternoster had been sick with mono for a year going into the recording of “Rose Mountain”, and she pours all the anguish and desperation of that experience into the song’s devastating refrain: “I’m not hopeless, helpless, or begging you to stay/ It’s just turning out that way.” The album version of “Hopeless” builds to a crescendo, with Dougherty and Abbate ushering the song’s simple riff to a powerful conclusion. 

The demo that appears that on “Singles Too” compilation is just as potent. Stripped down to just Paternoster’s vocals and acoustic guitar, the song feels as intimate as anything in the Screamales catalogue.

Screaming Females will probably always be underappreciated as songwriters. That’s what happens when your band plays raucous live shows and boasts an old-school, shred-goddess lead guitarist. But the Screamales’ knack for melody and structure has always been crucial to what they do. Even back on “Baby Teeth”, they were writing hooks, not just riffs.

Their finest moment of pure songcraft is “Wishing Well,” which plays like a lost ’90s alt-rock radio hit. With its wobbly, sunny guitar licks and huge, sugar-rush chorus, the song is uncharacteristically bright for the Screamales. That’s exactly why it works so well. “Wishing Well” wears its melodic sensibility on its sleeve, offering an unvarnished look at the sturdy frame that holds up all the shredding and shouting.

All At Once , (2018)

The weird and ambitious masterpiece “All At Once.” The band absolutely shreds all over this one– their proggiest record by far. It starts with their best opener before or since “Glass House” and over its 15 tracks it leaves few stones unturned in its gleeful classic rock revelry (there’s even a Skynardesque, neo-soul ballad with “Bird In Space”. In less deft hands the result could be messy, but every Music Club indulgence yields beautiful results here.

Marissa Paternoster says the only time she ever weighed in on album sequencing was when she pushed for “Glass House” to lead off the album “All At Once” . That gives her a perfect lifetime shooting percentage. “Glass House” is one of the best opening tracks in recent memory, and it’s also the best song Screaming Females ever wrote. It takes its time getting going, spending much of its first two-thirds locked to Abbate’s insistent bass part. Paternoster’s main riff is simple, and it only comes in intermittently, punctuating the bass line. Mostly, she sticks to squiggly little figures that roil beneath her vocals. There’s not even a guitar solo on “Glass House,” which makes me feel insane for calling it the best Screaming Females song.

Instead, it’s all about the crescendo, which takes up the final 70 seconds of the song. “My life in this glass house/ Impossible to get out,” Paternoster sings over and over, with paranoiac intensity. Everything around that refrain steadily gets bigger and louder and denser. Dougherty adds more drums to his insistent, pulsing pattern. The guitars and bass begin to swell and merge into a Sabbathian wall of sound. A cello comes in, just loud and long enough for you to notice it. Claustrophobia starts to set in. The tension finally breaks as the song reaches its final moments, and Paternoster finishes her last repetition of the line a cappella. Only then can you move on and hear the rest of what “All At Once” has in store. It’s the most exhilarating moment in a discography full of them, 

The latent radio-friendly sensibility that “Wishing Well” brought to the surface blossoms into a full-on pop song on “I’ll Make You Sorry” or at least the Screaming Females version of a pop song. It’s a total blast, balancing the jilted-lover revenge fantasy of its title and chorus with the sweetness of its pop-punk melodies.

This being Screaming Females, the verses are still laced with abstract poetry, and the song still builds to a muscular and relatively noisy peak. But when Paternoster sings about how she was in love before but she’s given up, it makes me want to roll the windows down and shout along into the night. By my definition, that makes it a pop song.

Early on in the pandemic we got asked to cover a 1980s punk rock song for a special edition release of the comic What’s the Furthest Place From Here. Mike immediately said “We should do a ska song” to which Jarrett replied “Cool. It should be The Selecter followed quickly with Marissa stating “Great. Let’s do “On My Radio” It happened over the course of about 30 seconds. I don’t know if we have ever made such a quick decision as a band.

Many people are familiar with The Specials but The Selecter should be just as renowned. Their first string of singles and first LP are legendary and Pauline Black’s live performances, as captured in “Dance Craze”, are absolutely transcendent.

Singles Too (2019)

“Singles Too” collects Screaming Females’ complete non-album recordings, gathering together early 7” singles, digital-only b-sides, and one pretty great remix. The download and CD will also feature six cover songs, including the New Jersey trio’s takes on music by Neil Young, Taylor Swift, Sheryl Crow, and Patti Smith. The vinyl version of the album will be a one-time pressing limited to 1500 copies.

The tracklist also provides a roadmap of the band’s progress through 15+ years of music-making — tracking Screaming Females from their early days playing New Brunswick basement shows into life as a full-time band with a tour schedule rigorous enough that their van earned its own New York Times profile.

“On the first single we ever put out, there were mistakes that I made playing guitar that make me want to crawl into a hole and die,” says guitarist Marissa Paternoster, recalling the sessions for “Arm Over Arm” and “Zoo of Death.” “At the time I didn’t know I was allowed to say, ‘Can I do that again and correct it? I was 19, giving it my all.”

On “Singles Too”, you can hear Screaming Females lay it down at Milltown, NJ’s post-apocalyptic recording-on-a-budget one-stop, The Hunt — tin roof, flammable mixing board, DIY growlab housed in back of Marshall cab — AND at posh Los Angeles hit-factory, East West Studios, where they convened with members of Garbage to cover “Because the Night.”

The b-sides included here also capture the breadth of the trio’s creativity, with compelling detours and tangents otherwise unrepresented in their catalogue, from Sammus and Moor Mother’s re-work of “End of My Bloodline” to the stripped down demo of Rose Mountain’s “Hopeless.” “Singles Too” is a rarities comp, but it’s a compelling one — a deep dive into SF ephemera, an introduction, and a history lesson all at once.

Desire Pathway, (2023)

The abnormally lengthy pause between 2018’s “All At Once” and was punctuated by a spectacular solo effort from G&L mangling guitarist/frontwoman Marissa Paternoster, a compilation album of singles, B-sides, and covers titled “Singles Too”, and of course, there was small matter of a global shutdown. 

The band’s third with producer Matt Bayles, and though the production is the slickest it’s ever been it manages not to sacrifice the raw power of their sound or make a record that can’t be reproduced live. Paternoster is harmonizing with herself more on this one while taking fun departures into old-school punk “Desert Train”, hooky radio-rock “Ornament” and power-pop that could turn Blondie green with envy “Mourning Dove”. 

From the stormy discordance of “Desert Train“, to the tuneful pop-punk of “Mourning Dove” and the cathartic “Let You Go” (complete with seesawing wah-wah badassery), there are killer songs, matched with sympathetic guitar lines aplenty.

“Brass Bell” starts with an extended, slow-building synth riff, introducing “Desire Pathway” with a sound largely alien to the Screamales’ true-blue rock configuration. (Paternoster’s underrated solo album “Peace Meter” has a lot more electronic elements, “Desire Pathway” has a subtly otherworldly feel to it, aided by Matt Bayles’ bold production. “Brass Bell” ultimately blossoms into a crunching riff-rocker with martial, almost metallic vigour. But that synth intro, along with some spacey vocal effects and a mix that swells in intensity as the song reaches its peak, helps “Brass Bell” feel like new ground for the Screamales.

It’s impossible to trace Screaming Females’ sound back to a single formative influence. But sometimes, they sound a lot like Dinosaur Jr. “Ornament” is one of those times. The song opens with a wailing guitar solo – a time-honored J. Mascis trick – before settling into a sturdy pocket. It’s not just Paternoster’s shredding that ties Screaming Females to Dino Jr.

The band established a power trio model for indie rock, finding a balance between punk-rock verve and sharp musicianship. Screaming Females follow in those footsteps. “Ornament” always sounds like the work of three people, even as it builds to a heady climax. Everybody has to lock in, but everybody also has to stay loose. A song like “Ornament” makes that sound a lot easier than it is.

“Desire Pathway” isn’t afraid to be catchy, and serves as a perfect entry point to the band.

In December 2023, The New Jersey rock legends Screaming Females band announced their breakup on their social media pages, ending a brilliant 18-year run. The trio of guitarist/vocalist Marissa Paternoster, bassist “King” Mike Abbate, and drummer Jarrett Dougherty had started playing together in the New Brunswick DIY scene that orbited Rutgers University in the mid-2000s. They always kept a foot in that world, even as they became critical darlings and fixtures of the indie-rock touring circuit.

Their final album, 2023’s “Desire Pathway”, kicks nearly as much ass as anything that the band ever released. There’s been no announcement about a grand-finale show or anything like that, but we’re now getting one final recording from the band, and it stands as further evidence that they were an absolute wrecking ball until the very end. Screaming Females recorded the five songs on their newly released “Clover” EP during their “Desire Pathway” sessions. As with that album, the band laid those tracks down at Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota, the same place where Nirvana made In Utero and PJ Harvey made Rid Of Me.

Their producer was longtime collaborator Matt Bayles, who’s also worked with bands like Mastodon and Pearl Jam. The EP is an unexpected treat, and all five songs rock hard. “Violence And Anger”? . If Screaming Females ever decide to get back together, the “Clover” EP stands as evidence that they’ll still be in fighting form.