SCREAMING FEMALES – Live At The Hideout (Don Giovanni Records)

By John Ambrosio

When I first heard the Screaming Females were making a live album, I was understandably excited. Guitarist and singer Marissa Paternoster is a force of nature at shows and, despite her slight frame, has a dominating stage presence. What’s more, drummer Jarrett Dougherty and bassist “King” Mike are one of the tightest rhythm sections in rock ‘n’ roll, and when these three come together, it’s like Voltron—but with even more face melting.

Luckily, their new album, Live at the Hideout, does a great job of taking all their raw energy and ferocity and focusing it into one amazing hour of perfectly captured punk rock. The album starts with the opening riff of “Leave It All Up To Me”, which gently floats by on a palpable sense of anticipation until, all of a sudden, the distortion comes in—and the show really begins.

Right out of the gate, the Screaming Females absolutely demolish the opening tracks, “Leave It All Up To Me,”“Foul Mouth,” and “Buried in the Nude,” all of which stand out as some of the best songs on the album. When played live, these songs are heavier, faster, and even more satisfying than their studio-recorded counterparts and serve as proof that the Screaming Females shred live.

The band chugs through song after song until they really hit their stride during “Lights Out,” which feels exactly like a live song should; groovy, a bit sloppy, edging itself just over the beat, and full of interesting improvisation. After the huge ending to that song, the band finally takes a collective breath and Paternoster shyly mutters, “We’re Screaming Females from New Brunswick New Jersey, thanks for coming to the show,” before reassuming her vibrato and distortion fueled stage persona and sinking her teeth into “Sheep.”

If nothing else, Live at the Hideout proves that the Screaming Females are masters at tinkering with their songs; after more than 800 shows, they know what works and what doesn’t, and are able to change tempos, volume, and intensity on a dime and in unison. While there are a number of songs off their most recent full-length, Ugly, it’s the older tunes—the ones that they’ve had the most opportunity to polish—that really shine.

Songs like “Boyfriend,”“Starve the Beat,” and “Foul Mouth” are a full two or three minutes longer than the studio versions, which is time the band fills with piercing solos, intense build-ups, and enough feedback to break a Slayer-style wall of Marshall stacks. More than just tacking on new things, the recordings on Live at the Hideout give many early songs a much-appreciated face-lift.

One of thing more disappointing things about early Screaming Females albums like Baby Teeth and What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.? is the lo-fi nature of the production. Not to knock lo-fi, but some bands, especially those with chops as impressive as Screaming Females, really just sound better when you can actually hear them playing. Live at the Hideout, thanks in no small part to the engineering of Steve Albini, gives these early songs new life and energy, allowing them to groove, swing, and hit as hard as they ought to.

By the end of the show, the band definitely starts to lose its edge, making the ending, “Boyfriend,” a little underwhelming. That being said, the Screaming Females at their worst is still better than most bands at their best and, while it definitely isn’t the best track on the album, it’s still pretty intense.

My biggest gripe, however, is that Live at the Hideout definitely feels like it’s missing a few songs; crowd favorite “Bell” totally deserves an update and would’ve been a great addition, as would “Rotten Apple” and the jam-worthy “Doom 84.” That being said, the setlist does a great job balancing old and new, and gives a fairly complete overview of the Screaming Females’ already impressive catalogue.

Well produced, well planned, and well performed, Live at the Hideout is definitely one of the best live albums in recent memory, and may even have earned a spot (at least in my collection) amongst classic albums like Live Rust. Ultimately, what makes the album—and the Screaming Females themselves—so impressive is that if this were the only thing they ever produced, they’d still be one of the best bands out there.

CROW BAIT - Sliding Through the Halls of Fate (www.dongiovannirecords.com)

by Rich Quinlan

A collection of battle-hardened Long Island music vets gather together to form a band with much softer edges than one may expect. Sliding Though the Halls of Fate is a great name and also a record that is more pop-friendly than punk nihilistic. Crow Bait’s music is reminiscent of Hootenanny-era Replacements as well as a multitude of early 90’s indie giants. The guitar work careens by briskly as richly melodic vocals carry “The Ocean”, “Looking for my Boots on the Highway”, and “83”. There is extraordinary attention to pop harmonics throughout the disc and ‘If I Could” and “Pretty Good Things’ are pristine pop jewels. One should not prepare to be hit in the face by angered fury, despite the punk pedigrees attached to the members of Crow Bait. Instead, Sliding Through the Halls of Fate is a heartfelt exploration of maturely crafted guitar rock. “A Billion Lives” is accented by harmonica and sounds as if it could fit comfortably within Tom Petty’s set list, while “Ancient Eyes” is a delicately crafted effort with a majestic loud/soft dynamic. If one needs any additional proof that this is a long way away from the members’ punk past, the closer is a true to form interpretation of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. It is impressive for a bunch of Yankees to muster up some Southern-fried authenticity to the track, but this may be a song best left solely to The Band. That aside, Crow Bait has a very solid record here; not for the kids, but for those who have kids of their own.

PETER STAMPFEL & THE BROOKLYN AND LOWER MANHATTAN BANJO SQUADRON - Better Than Expected (Don Giovanni)

The indefatigable Peter Stampfel remains more prolific at age 75 than almost anyone on the planet outside of Guided By Voices and Ty Seegal. His latest album - and first for Don Giovanni Records - qualifies as both an experiment and an invitation. The Experiment: How many plunking banjos can play in the same room at the same time before it turns into complete chaos? The Invitation: While there are a handful of actual "songs" here, most of the tracks are unfinished instrumentals, many improvised around a basic chord progression. Fans are invited to write their own lyrics and mail them to the Maestro. If Stampfel likes them, they might turn up on a future album, and you'll get a share of the songwriting credits. (It's all laid out in the album's liner notes.) If you don't like banjos but do enjoy Stampfel's trademark squawk, there's a reboot of Tuli Kupferberg's "CIA Man" dubbed "NSA Man" (with electronic and digital surveillance added to the paranoia,) and a freak-folk update of Loudon Wainwright's "Dead Skunk" called "Roadkill." Traditional folkies and banjo enthusiasts will no doubt be bemused, but unless you really like the sound of banjos, it's slim pickin's compared to Stampfel's (many) other recent releases, so be prepared. A follow up album featuring Stampfel and The Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Fiddle & Mandolin Squadron is already on tap.

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