Review Summary: Fits as naturally as a puddle in its hole.
If there’s one word to describe Screaming Females, that word is “natural”. This can be summed up simply by the handclaps in the verses of “Mothership”. When heard, the impression is not that the handclaps are there to make the song quirky, the impression is that the song is
quirky and the handclaps are an artifact of the song’s natural quirkiness. The image is not caused by the contents of the song, but rather the contents exist as a part of that image through Marissa Paternoster’s knack for carving out that perfect melody for any given sonic environment. This is essentially a fancy way to say nothing about this album is ham-fisted. “Mothership” is quirky because it’s quirky. “Boyfriend” is brutal, not because of the face ripping guitar-tones and shrill vocals, but because “Boyfriend” is a ***ing brutal song. The lyrics to “The Real Mothers” are indeed highly abstract, because the song surrounding them is their natural habitat and they've had to adapt in order to exist there so perfectly. These songs, these handclaps, these melodies have always existed, Screaming Females simply unveil them to us. The amazonian tree frog doesn't call attention to itself, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful.