New Jersey punk rockers Screaming Females hit Barracuda in Austin on Saturday, April 21 with a straight punch in the mouth on Saturday night. Don’t worry. It felt great.
The gritty power trio has cut their teeth on face melting solos and wild, sparing vocals from front woman Marissa Paternoster. Coming hot off the heels of their stellar new record, All At Once, the Austin crowd knew they were in for something special.
Screaming Females let their music do the talking for the most part. They ripped right in with a “soundcheck” song, before starting their set for real with a rousing, up-tempo rendition of “Deeply” from All At Once. With the exception of older songs “Rose Mountain” and “It All Means Nothing,” the entire set was made up from the new album.
Focusing on the now was a wise choice considering that All At Once is potentially the band’s best work yet, and song after song hit hard in a live setting. The sprawling, gorgeous guitar work of “Bird in Space” and the tension filled build-up of “Glass House” made for perfect set pieces, while closer “I’ll Make You Sorry” got everyone in the house dancing.
The set was, unfortunately, disappointingly short. Screaming Females usually come in quick and powerful, leaving little room for breathing, and their live performance was no different. But even if brevity is one of their strong suits, a confused audience couldn’t help but be let down when the crew came to dismantle their equipment without an encore. Right when the crowd was at their rowdiest, it was all over, leaving many to walk out complaining.
Less is more can be a good thing, but the brevity of the set seemed unintentional, or dictated possibly by outside forces. It certainly didn’t seem a fitting end to such a joyful time. It was like getting to your date’s doorstep and ending the night without a kiss.
The abrupt ending aside, Screaming Females are very much at the peak of their performing and songwriting prowess. If All At Once is their greatest work yet, they’ve got the chops to match it live. For the amount of time they were on stage on Saturday night, they brought it.
