"Do they think it's a trick that I pull when I'm sick?" (Screaming Females - Rose Mountain)

Screaming Females
Rose Mountain

why you'll love it: Old school raw rock

why you'll hate it: Watered down compared to older material.

Bands that catch on with a fiery rage have got to have it the worst.  When Screaming Females started out, they were college kids, self-releasing albums.  One was the explosive What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.?, packed with filthy guitar solos and unfiltered wailing vocals.  The other was Baby Teeth; just as lo-fi, but with a more straightforward and restrained songwriting approach.  Guess which one left an impression on the scene?

In 2010, the band was riding high off its first album on a label.  Power Move, continued down the trail of destruction What if... had begun.  When you saw Marissa Paternoster take the stage as a fragile little thing, then explode like an atomic bomb, it's hard to imagine Screaming Females as anything else but monsters of rock.  Little did anyone know, change was around the corner...

With the release of Castle Talk came an ironic cooldown of Screaming Females.  Despite the predictable snark of "she don't even scream anymore" ringing true, Castle Talk is a personal favorite of mine.  Marissa's guitar work had only gotten more impressive, and the trio had formed a rock Voltron of powerful harmony.  On their follow up, Ugly, it started to become obvious that Screaming Females wanted to be known for more than just making noise.  This also coincided with a health issue that sidelined Paternoster.  The 2013 Chalk Tape EP was so experimental in "being normal" that not even I could get into it.  I wondered what all those people practically rioting at Screaming Females shows in 2009 thought of the band in 2014...

All this uncertainty has made Rose Mountain a very anticipated release.  "Empty Head" stumbles out of the gate in a disappointingly predictable fashion.  It sounds like the band is going through the motions.  OH NO!  THEY'VE LOST THEIR TOUCH!  MARISSA'S TOO SICK TO ROCK!  THIS IS THE END!

    

Then "Ripe" happens.

"Ripe" rips fiercer than anything the band has done for the past five years.  It has disgusting lyrics, blood-pumping tension, and killer precision.  Yeah, there's still no screaming, but who cares?  You don't need an R rating to make a great horror movie.  You don't need to scream to rock; and there is plenty of rock to go around on Rose Mountain.  Ironically enough, not in the title track. Chalk Tape may have been a failed experiment, but it's starting to seem like a necessary one.  The songs "Rose Mountain" and "Wishing Well" finely tune the band's softer side without sacrificing any of their classic rock and roll charm accrued from the last two LPs.  I particularly like how "Broken Neck" deceptively rolls back and forth between their soft and hard sides.

The biggest moments are saved for the last few tracks.  "Triumph" has an inspiring pace too it that makes you feel like you just climbed a mountain; and waiting at the peak is "Criminal Image", a rocket ship aimed straight at the sun.  The two songs suffer just a bit by being so close together on the track list, but they're both powerfully epic.

Rose Mountain marks a pretty important transition.  Aside from the forgettable "Hopeless", Screaming Females has proven here they can play nice.  Aggression is what they'll probably always be known for, but these toned down songs feel just as natural.  The burden of expectation has all but been lifted in my eyes.  When I hear a new Screaming Females song in the future, I won't be quite sure what I'll get.  For a band with 6 albums under its belt, that is a very good thing.