Of course Screaming Females were my favorite act I saw at CMJ! The stalwart indie (four albums and not so much as a Pitchfork review) rockers played at Williamsburg Music Hall, to an appropriately packed and bouncy audience. Front woman Maria Paternoster (I hope that‰’s her real name— rudimentary Catholic high school Latin tells me this directly translates to Our Father) shredded and screamed with white-light ferocity through a set of both old and new songs.

Paternoster is a spine tingling awesome mixture of the the vocal athelticism of Karen O and the face-melting shredding abilities of Sleater Kinney. She wore a long loose-fitting black dress with a white Peter Pan collar that gave her a distinct Gidget/nun-like vibe that jarred deliciously with her punkish virtuoso.

Most memorable was the band‰’s ear ringing rendition of “Fall Asleep‰Û, a sonically epic slow burner of a song. Give it a listen! Their last album, Castle Talk, includes this song, and is still on the rack- give it some much-deserved love!

These guys are also former Capitol Punishment performers! You cant imagine how incredibly sad it makes me to know I missed seeing them in a space as tiny as Kay Basement. Any survivors who can attest to being there, I am supremely jealous of you forever.