Rock n’ roll lives. If you’re feeling weary toward this statement, check out New Brunswick’s Screaming Females and there’s sure to be a change of heart.
“We’re just a rock n’ roll band,” Marissa Paternoster, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, said during a phone interview.
The Screaming Females are a band to keep alive; their unique rock sound is difficult to come by in a world dominated by pop-quality progression.
Alongside Paternoster, King Mike plays bass and Jarrett Dougherty plays drums. The threesome started playing basement shows after meeting in the New Brunswick music scene.
“There’s nowhere else that kids can go that’s close by so people throw shows for themselves and have fun. That’s how you meet people, how people meet your band.” Marissa said. “It was born out of necessity.”
When seeing the Screaming Females perform live, their basement roots shine through in the best way. A packed venue feels like a close community of instant fans, entranced by Paternoster’s tough shredding and commanding vocals, and Dougherty and King Mike’s talent with their respected instruments.
They follow a different set list for each show, written by Paternoster and Dougherty before the band takes over the stage. Despite song order, their approach is aggressive. But the band said the song-writing process for them is slow.
“Everything is subject to change up until it’s recorded,” Paternoster said, “and even then it’s still subject to change at live shows.”
They also said the themes of their songs do not fall under one umbrella topic. There could be many topics weaved within one song.
“All of it is just surreal gobbledygook as far as lyrical content is concerned,” Paternoster said.
Yet it works for the them.
So what’s in the name? Mike takes the phone to clarify.
“It’s like a Beatles concert.“ he said. “When the Beatles would play a concert there’d be thousands upon thousands of screaming females.”
These New Brunswick natives may not have thousands upon thousands of screaming females calling out to them yet. However, they notice a fan base when on tour. Paternoster said they have friends in every state who come to see them perform every time they come to town. And with a recognizable fan base, the band does not have to worry about what else they would be doing.
“If I wasn’t playing music in a band I would probably be sad,” Paternoster said, laughing at the thought of an alternative to the Screaming Females.
And who could blame her? As much as they enjoy making music, fans love hearing it. Their punk-rock sound and attitude are equally rare and stunning.
“Mostly all we want to do is keep it going for as long as possible without getting boring or stagnant,” Paternoster said. “We don’t have any plans to get super famous or fall into obscurity or anything like that, we just want to see what happens and enjoy ourselves.”
Check out the Screaming Females tour dates HERE and get their album Power Move at 
.