Photos/Review: Screaming Females @ The Bell House

Screaming Females @ The Bell House - April 6, 2012
Photos: Chris / Review: Damien

Let's start out with the weirdest / most hilarious part of the night: Chris got kicked out of The Bell House. For crowd surfing. For 15 seconds. At a PUNK ROCK SHOW.

Despite the weird new rules that come with punk shows in 2012, one thing still holds true: you can still have a blast watching a particularly awesome band rock the hell out in tight, furious sonic bursts. Tonight, that band happened to be none other than New Jersey's own Screaming Females, and the opportunity to see them flex their three-piece rock muscle was well worth the possibility of getting kicked out for being a punk at a punk show.

Pause as everyone chuckles Beavis & Butthead-style at the phrase "three-piece rock muscle." Continue.

As previously mentioned, Screaming Females headlined The Bell House as part of the local kickoff of  their Spring/Summer tour, connecting with fellow Future Nostalgia favorites Ceremony for a few inevitably blistering shows in the process. Having just released their fifth monster of an LP, Ugly (which you can stream over here), we were psyched to hear SF pull off their studio tracks with the virtuosity and fire that we last saw when they opened for Ted Leo & The Pharmacists last summer.

And fuck yeah did they pull it off. Every time I looked up from slamming around in the mosh pit we helped start (you're still not gonna get away with standing still & looking morose at a punk show, hipsters), frontwoman Marissa Paternoster was perched stage left setting her guitar strings ablaze with amazing riff after amazing riff. In person, Ugly leadoff track, "It All Means Nothing" - which I initially took as being more middle of the road than their previous work - came off as a contender for a new classic punk anthem. Every other aspect of their set packed a punch and kept us thrashing around, and before we knew it the set was over and we were outside looking for Chris's happy personage.

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Check out his pre-crowdsurf shots of Screaming Females set below along with full tour dates and we urge you to see them when they hit a city near you.

Screaming Females 2012 Tour Dates:
04/09 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project
04/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
04/11 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
04/12 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
04/13 – Madison, WI @ UW Madison
04/14 – Omaha, NE @ The Sandbox
04/15 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
04/17 – Boise, ID @ The Crux
04/18 – Seattle, WA @ The Rendezvous
04/19 – Bellingham, WA @ JINX Art Space
04/20 – Portland, OR @ The Know
04/21 – Olympia, WA @ Timberland Library
04/23 – Oakland, CA @ 1234 Go! Records
04/24 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
04/25 – San Jose, CA @ Streetlight Records
04/25 – San Jose, CA @ The Blank Club
04/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock ^
04/27 – San Pedro, CA @ Ballet School ^
04/28 – San Diego @ Che Cafe +^
04/28 – San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink ^
04/29 – Pomona, CA @ VLHS +^
04/30 – Fullerton, CA @ Continental Room ^
05/01 – Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space
05/02 – Las Cruces, NM @ The Trainyard $
05/04 – Austin, TX @ Red 7 $
05/05 – Dallas, TX @ Queen City Hall
05/06 – Nashville, TN @ The End
05/07 – Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
05/09 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
05/10 – Baltimore, MD @ Golden West Cafe
06/01 - Austin, TX @ Beauty Ballroom (Chaos in Tejas) %*
06/05 - Gainesville, FL @ The Backyard *
06/06 – Orlando, FL @ Backbooth *
06/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn *
06/09 – Washington, DC @ St. Stephens Church *
06/11 – Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Redwood Art Space *
06/13 – Hamden, CT @ The Space *
07/05-07 – Trencin, SK @ Pohoda Festival

^ = w/ Toys That Kill
+ = w/ Japanther
$ = w/ Tragedy
% = w/ No Age
* = w/ Ceremony