The Best New Band In NJ
Last night I saw the Screaming Females from New Brunswick, who are probably the most exciting NJ band I'd discovered in, oh, about a decade. You probably have to go back to the mid-Nineties and the debut of bands like Prosolar Mechanics and Aviso'Hara to match it.

The Screaming Females are a trio - a lanky guy on drums, a big happy kid built like a Wookie on bass, and this petite firestorm of a gal named Marissa on guitar and vocals. Marissa is so amazing that it's easy to overlook the rhythm section, so let me talk about them first: Screaming Females works because of Mike's very catchy and melodic basslines and Jarrett's excellent drumming. But it's Marissa that really puts this band in orbit. First of all, she shreds on guitar like a cross between Angus Young, Steve Vai, and Thurston Moore, and in-between these breathtaking rapid-fire solos she adds all kinds of cool feedback noise and sound effects from her pedals. Vocally, well, I'm not sure how to describe her - something like the demon spawk of Jello Biafra, Lydia Lynch, and that woman who sang in Romeo Void (remember, "I'd like you better if we slept together?") Marissa's got a deep monotone driving voice with this awesome quaver and the music is this throbbing intense post-punk with a bit of a new-wave dance groove. I'd already heard this debut CD and liked it, but I wasn't prepared for how awesome they are live. Check this band out immediately.

This was at Maxwells, for a really good Sunday night bill, by the way. Unfortunately I screwed up, thinking it was a 9 pm show,and missed The Ergs! Dammit! Brooklyn's Plastic East played a really tight set of their bluesy hipster rock that both looked and sounded very cool. This band's been around a while and I don't know why they're not more popular; they work hard, play well, and have a really wide appeal.

Let me send some props out to the crowd at this show too (mostly college kids from New Brunswick there to see Screaming Females, I think, although Plastic East brought in a few folks from their "streetwave" scene in Brooklyn, and the Ergs! only draw the local pop/punk crew.) Kids were smiling, they were dancing, they were having a really good time, and the vibe just engulfed the entire room. I haven't had so much fun at a show in a while. Excellent night, everybody!