The best part of a decade into their tenure, Screaming Females have made a pop record. Not in the traditional sense, perhaps, but ‘Rose Mountain’ finds them trimmed of excess and comfortable going verse-chorus-verse as Marissa Paternoster augments her rough-hewn guitar genius with some of the most direct lyrics the band has ever folded into an album sleeve. It won't trample you as brazenly ‘Ugly’ did, but it’ll get you in the end.
Written as Paternoster struggled with chronic mono - something that took the band off the road and, therefore, out of their natural environment - ‘Rose Mountain’ is a record of frustration and hurt as much as it’s the most engaging piece in a high-calibre back catalogue.
Its seamless delivery is emblematic of the bond and chemistry Paternoster shares with Jarrett Dougherty and ‘King Mike’ Abbate. They are a power trio cut from classic cloth, with a watertight rhythm section providing the platform for a livewire guitar player.
Despite the slight stylistic shift present here, that element is still vital. When Paternoster cuts loose - as she does on the filthy opening to Ripe, with the slabs of distortion that usher in Criminal Image or the staccato Triumph - she hits as hard as ever.
Producer Matt Bayles, formerly of Minus The Bear and a veteran of Mastodon and Isis records, allows the riffs to barrel to the front unimpeded, without once detracting from the hooks. Paternoster’s idiosyncratic wail is present and correct, but with her vocals in the middle of the mix and choruses to burn, it’s subtlety that wins the day.
Wishing Well and It’s Not Fair are straight-up, three minute pop songs driven by melodies that you could curl up with, while Broken Neck is almost austere in its presentation. It’s a stark tale of Paternoster’s health, one dotted with bleak imagery amid the feather-light guitar touches, and Hopeless, maybe the best song among a great bunch, continues the theme.
Described in a recent interview with The Artery as a break up song directed at her body, it carries true emotional heft as it tumbles to a gritty conclusion. Paternoster sings: “I’m not hopeless, helpless or begging you to stay. It’s just turning out that way.” Its accompanying video found her offering the painful message as blood from ruined fingers spattered the pickguard of her guitar. In that sense, then, Screaming Females have lost none of their intensity.
‘Rose Mountain’ is not the follow up to ‘Ugly’ we might have expected, given that album's clout and sense of rough-and-tumble. Happily, different doesn’t mean disappointing. It’s a new string to a bow, a relative step into the unknown and something of a triumph.
Screaming Females Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sun April 19 2015 - BRIGHTON Hope
Mon April 20 2015 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Tue April 21 2015 - MANCHESTER Roadhouse
Wed April 22 2015 - GLASGOW Broadcast
Thu April 23 2015 - BRISTOL Exchange
Fri April 24 2015 - LONDON Lexington
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