Monday, February 26, 2018

Screaming Females, All at Once, 2018

Album Review

This was a weird weekend. A few months ago, I'd bought tickets to all three nights of Screaming Females' release shows at Monty Hall in Jersey City. Then, I ended up booking a show at The Saint on Thursday. Contributor Rose Lamela went to Monty Hall in my absence. I'll include some of her shots here. I stayed out chit-chatting way too long on Thursday, and Friday ended up being a wasted day. Some picture-editing and that was it, really. As I dozed on the sofa at about 7pm, I knew that a trip up to Jersey City wasn't in the cards for me; plus, I always had Saturday.

CoolMom was leaving for a weeklong business trip on Saturday evening but would be around long enough to cover the first day of CoolDaughter #2's swim meet. I'd hit the show, and take the Sunday swim meet shift. We thought.

Early in the day, we found out that the meet would be going a lot later than we originally calculated. CoolMom would have to leave for her flight, and I'd be on evening duty. By the time, I'd gotten CoolDaughter #2 home from Princeton, fed, and squared away, there was no time to head to Jersey City. I was bummed (at myself for missing Friday and at the world for Saturday's turn of events), and I'd been being kind of an asshole about it for the whole day.

I've been listening to Screaming Females' latest, All at Once, for a while now; and I listened to it tight-lipped and angry for most of Saturday. The band once again worked with producer Matt Bayles; and they've put out a record that may be their strongest to date.

Much of what's written about Screaming Females focuses on Marissa Paternoster, her earth-shaking vocals, and her blistering guitar. All at Once, though, is clearly a full-band effort. And while Paternoster remains the centerpiece as frontperson, the rhythm section of Jarrett Dougherty (drums) and King Mike Abbate (bass) are as integral to the sound here as those distinctive guitar tones.


Marissa Paternoster at Monty Hall, 2/22/18. By Rose Lamela.

Dougherty and King Mike are pretty reserved until the outro to opener and social media hellscape, "Glass House." Then they're off and running with Paternoster. The band have said that "Black Moon" is about the earth's break-up with humanity. Paternoster's voice and guitar wind and bend themselves around some thundering bass and drums. Taken together, things sound appropriately huge and planetary.

Jarrett Dougherty at Monty Hall, 2/22/18. By Rose Lamela.
King Mike at Monty Hall, 2/22/18. By Rose Lamela.

All at Once, hits on each one of Screaming Females' strengths as a band -- from the spare and sad "Deeply" to the jammy "Chamber for Sleep," parts 1 & 2. To me, one of the things the band do best is the big, 90s-inflected pop song (like "It All Means Nothing" or "Rotten Apple" from Ugly). "I'll Make You Sorry" has a hooky, singalongable chorus; but it also possesses the distinctively serrated chords and flourishes of vintage Screaming Females. Album closer, "Step Outside" incorporates lots of this stuff all at once, if you will, starting out as a meandering jam before switching to bouncing pop punk.

There are even a couple of things here that I'm not sure I've heard Screaming Females do before like the classic-rock-sounding ballad, "Bird in Space" or the AC/DC-ish opening to "My Body."

All of that is kind of whatever, though. I can spend all the time in the world with a Screaming Females record, but it often comes down to the fact that the band are a primal punch in the gut for me. The things that Marissa Paternoster can do with her voice and the guitar amaze me (and Bayles has really brought out the best qualities of both on this record), and Dougherty and King Mike can carry me along like I'm shooting river rapids. Even as I drove around, fuming over the fact that I'd miss every one of the release shows, just listening to All at Once on repeat started to unwind whatever was knotted up inside me. I got a little emotional, even, at times; and I realized that maybe it wasn't just missing the shows that was bugging me, but other stuff that's always there in the back of my mind lately.

I sat in the bleachers with CoolDaughter #2 as we waited for her last event to come around.

"I'm sorry you have to miss your concert, Dad."

"Yeah, well. At least I get to sit here with you. I really do enjoy that."

"Yeah."

All at Once is out now on Don Giovanni Records.

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