New Jersey's Screaming Females combine scorching guitars, straightforward but melodic tunes, and a clever approach to dynamics with a firm D.I.Y. approach to create their own brand of punk-infused indie rock. Mixing equal parts Dinosaur Jr. and Sleater-Kinney, the Brunswick trio of Marissa Paternoster (guitar/vocals), Michael Abbate (bass), and Jarrett Dougherty (drums) strive to embody the spirit of indie rock in its purest form, bringing their guitar-driven rock to the people without compromise. The straightforward swagger of their first album, 2007's Baby Teeth, would give way to more ambitious structures and greater guitar heroics from Paternoster by the time of 2012's Ugly and 2018's All at Once. 2023's Desire Pathway showed that trickier song structures and more full-bodied production didn't sap their passion and energy.

Forming in 2005, Screaming Females fired their first salvo in 2007, self-releasing their debut full-length, Baby Teeth, as well as the "Arm Over Arm" b/w "Zoo of Death" 7" single. The band quickly followed up with their sophomore album, What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.?, which was also self-released. The group focused on collaborative releases in 2008, including a split 7" with Full of Fancy on Let's Pretend Records and another split 7", this one consisting of Neil Young covers, with Hunchback. The Females got some more exposure in 2009 after a series of jaw-dropping performances at New York's CMJ and a tour with Dead Weather. That same year, the band made the jump to a label, releasing Power Move through the principled independent imprint Don Giovanni, which would become their long-term recording home and would reissue Baby Teeth and What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.?

In 2010, Screaming Females released their fourth album, Castle Talk, and received more mainstream attention than ever after they were featured on NPR's All Things Considered later that year. 2010 also saw the release of Singles, a collection of their non-LP 7" sides. The band issued their fifth album, the Steve Albini-engineered Ugly, in 2012. Also in 2012, the band toured with alt-rock stars Garbage, and the two groups teamed up to record a single, in which they covered the Patti Smith hit "Because the Night." (The track would also appear on the Screaming Females' 2019 collection Singles Too, while Garbage included it on an expanded deluxe edition of their 2021 album No Gods No Masters.) Screaming Females' first live album, Live at the Hideout (also recorded by Albini), arrived in 2014. The group teamed up with producer Matt Bayles to record their 2015 studio effort, Rose Mountain. In February 2018, the band released All at Once, a stylistically diverse set that included a guest appearance from Brendan Canty of Fugazi. By late 2019, enough time had passed since Singles that Screaming Females brought out another collection of rare non-LP sides, Singles Too.

In 2021, while the COVID-19 pandemic kept the group off the road, Marissa Paternoster released her first solo album, Peace Meter, with Paternoster and her accompanists each recording their parts remotely at their home studios. In 2022, Screaming Females were back in business, and they went into the studio to record a batch of songs Paternoster had written in 2019. Once again working with producer Matt Bayles, 2023's Desire Pathway was recorded at Pachyderm Studios, the Minnesota recording facility where Nirvana cut In Utero and PJ Harvey made Rid of Me. ~ Gregory Heaney & Mark Deming