Screaming Females

The gritty power trio Screaming Females combines garage-punk rumble with metal muscle. Over the rhythm section’s hard-charging throbs, singer and guitarist Marissa Paternoster spices the mix with slashing licks. The diminutive, mop-topped Paternoster marshals a much larger sound than her size suggests. Her distortion-soaked riffs give way to scabrous runs, and her vocals move between scowling bellows and wall-scratching shrieks. Though the group favors a straight-ahead roar, it occasionally slides into a thundering groove that borders on stoner rock: “Skull” piles loud and soft dynamics on blustery guitar plumage. Born in the same teeming basement scene in Brunswick, New Jersey, that spawned Bouncing Souls and Thursday, the Females are dedicated D.I.Y. adherents, having released their first two LPs themselves and maintaining a punishing road schedule. They’ve since signed with Don Giovanni, which put out last year’s Power Move.