I don't feel connected to the Screaming Females.
That's more or less what I wrote last October when the New Jersey rock trio last performed at the Bishop, and I stand by that.
But Wednesday's night show, while still feeling generally similar in tone, pacing and scope, was a riot.
Perhaps it was the fact that now the Screaming Females have a new album under their belts, the newly released Ugly, but even though you could barely make out a lyric and even though the band charged through a small but meaty setlist of not even a dozen songs, that was exactly the point.
If you can't connect with guitarist Marissa Paternoster, it's because she's sick, and she deserves to be in an aloof position, even though on stage she's still barely much taller than the audience.
Paternoster complained about technical difficulties throughout her set, and did so especially on the abrupt finale "Wild," but she melds her intricate guitar solos into the already booming volume without calling attention to herself. Her sound speaks for itself.
Screaming Females are a band that would never be an arena rock act destined for sing-alongs and hooky choruses, and yet their sheer level of muscular noise and clear, head banging riffs resound perfectly.
The brisk ferocity alternating with the labored breakdown on "New Kid" is a fine example of their strength as a live act. Contrast that with the barn burner "Bell" or the surprisingly catchy "I Don't Mind It" to get the evening finally going, and you've got a band that can bring down the garage.
Their cause was helped by two upbeat and peculiar opening acts. The first, Heinous Orca, recalled Bikini Kill and the more punky Blondie era with bursts of quick, simple and similar sounding songs that made for good thrashing. And the second, Ponyboy, was a bizarre act so odd and strange in their stage presence and their shouting, spastic sound, yet wonderfully hilarious and distinctive even when they broke out the accordion. Yes, that's right: and accordion.
So no, I didn't get to know Marissa Paternoster as a charming frontwoman with an edge, and every photo I tried to snap of her was a clouded blur beneath long black hair. But behind that facade she puts on a hell of a show.
Post by Brian Welk
