IN REVIEW: Screaming Females - "All At Once"

If there's been one takeaway from Screaming Females' career up to this point that's clearer than the rest, it's that Marissa Paternoster shreds. It's been evident throughout and, even as they started to steer their overall sound into more accessible territory on 2015's excellent Rose Mountain, Paternoster's commanding voice and pummeling guitar towered over the band's other elements. On their seventh album, that voice and guitar still loom large, but there's also a marked progression into other styles and sounds.

While a band with a spike in attention thanks to a stellar record is more often than not tempted to present more of the same with slight refinements, All At Once instead presents Screaming Females expanding into seemingly all directions. There are elements of psychedelia and power pop alongside the punky post-grunge and guttural hard rock that they've been known for previously. They also fearlessly spread their sonic palette to include keyboards, like so many rock bands have done in recent memory, though they're used tastefully and not in a forced, overpowering manner. Put another way, All At Once leaves no doubt about its primary function as a rock record, it's just a varied and interesting one in terms of its themes.

So as to say, the big departure heard here has less to do with the instruments and more to do with the music; the accessibility that was flirted with on Rose Mountain is more pronounced on All At Once in both structural and sonic senses. This results in some of their most ready made hits; current single I'll Make You Sorry boasts perhaps this band's most enduring and catchy chorus, while many tracks adhere to a more traditional verse/chorus/verse formula. In the hands of lesser bands, this could make for a tiring and somewhat bland listen, but Screaming Females perform even the album's more basic songs with flair and fire. Besides, there is enough variety spread across its fifteen tracks to ensure ample opportunity to explore when things start to veer to too heavily in one direction.

To wit, Chamber for Sleep; the album's centerpiece, this two-parter bobs along on a hazy psych groove over the course of its opening few minutes before giving way to an absolute ripper of a solo by Paternoster. It then reverts back into psychedelia before the second part carries the tune softly into dreamland, only to morph into a fiery, choral garage rocker. Sections like this serve to remind listeners that Screaming Females are more than capable of pulling the exceptional out of the unexpected. As if on cue, this song is immediately followed by the majestic power ballad Bird in Space, offering further surprises and thrills.

After back-to-back rock solid records Ugly and Rose Mountain, Screaming Females' status as modern rock masters was undisputed, and they've only built upon that reputation with All At Once. There are a lot more ears turned toward Screaming Females now as compared to three years ago, and the group have not merely offered of a set of tunes of good enough quality to earn them even more attention, they've somehow done it without compromising what makes them one of the decade's most special and powerful bands. In fact, with a record as assured and confident a step into the comfort zone (read: out of this band's previous comfort zone) as this is while still seizing opportunities to explore and finding new ways to thrill listeners, those fortunate enough to listen to All at Once are listening to a band operating at peak power.

February 23, 2018 • Don Giovanni
Highlights I'll Make You Sorry • Agnes Martin • Chamber for Sleep