Screaming Females play Windup Space

The Screaming Females are a guitar-based rock band from New Brunswick, N.J. They’re a trio: Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Mike Abbate on bass and Jarrett Dougherty on drums. Lance Bangs made a tour documentary about them that you can find on Vice. Their sound is hard, clean punk rock. This past Saturday, they played the Windup Space here in Baltimore.

It was Thursday night when a friend of mine told me she was going to the Screaming Females show, and I decided to invite myself along. I didn’t have any other plans at the time, and while not all shows are good shows, this one wasn’t too expensive at $10, and there was another show nearby at the Crown if it turned out to be lame. As if a name like Screaming Females wasn’t promising enough, on their Tumblr they invited everyone to “blow it out your butt” with them on Saturday. Perfect. I bought my ticket, and when Saturday night rolled around we all hopped on the Blue Jay Shuttle and headed to the show.

There were two other bands in the lineup, Post Pink and Downtown Boys. Of the three bands playing that night, Post Pink was the only local band. Their music has been described as “the result of glue huffing 14 year olds let loose in a recording studio,” which sounds like a good time to me. Downtown boys are, according to their website, “a bi bilingual political dance sax punk party from Providence.” If they lived up to their claims, the night could turn out pretty well.

Thankfully there was no line in front of the Windup Space. We walked in toward the end of the second opener’s set, which meant that unfortunately we missed the local band. Downtown Boys had voices that were noisier than their instruments, but they had all the energy a punk band should. We shouldered our way to the front and danced through their last few songs, during which we were bumped into many times and got screamed at about democracy. It was hard to hear so I can’t say that for sure. Either way, so far so good.

When Screaming Females came on afterward, they didn’t disappoint. They were noisier than the last band, heavier. Despite being only a trio they had even more sound and energy than Downtown Boys. The crowd was digging it. It was as sweaty as a frat party, but it was a lot more raucous. The atmosphere was crazy, energetic and fun — you just wanted to hit somebody and then hug them. Any show is strongly affected by crowd dynamic, and this one was great. It was a punk show, so that’s as it should be.

Afterward, we did head to the Crown, but there were no free rooms that night, and the upstairs bouncer wasn’t too friendly. We ended up walking home, which was nice because we encountered two very friendly dogs with an equally friendly owner. It was one opportunity among many to get off campus and into the rest of Baltimore and see the community we’re lucky enough to have the chance to be a part of. All in all, it was a solid night out. If the Screaming Females are ever in Baltimore again, I’d strongly suggest seeing them.