Staff Reviews

Screaming Females - All at Once

Review by Bekki Bemrose

Musically, the band have never sounded so liberated and zestful»

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Throughout their lifetime as a band, Screaming Females have moved against the prevailing winds. Over six albums and more than a decade of touring, they have remained deeply individual and steadfastly DIY. Each new album has been a reaction to the last -- a chance for the band to challenge itself and its audience by switching course and subverting expectations. All At Once is Screaming Females seventh record -- a double LP that captures the band at its most ambitious and expansive. The trio spent a month recording with Bayles in Seattle, splitting time between London Bridge Studio and Red Room. They employed an expanded palette of instrumentation (organs, wurlitzers, synthesizers) and even a few guests (Fugazis Brendan Canty adds a second drum set to Soft Domination). The expectations that surround being in a band have changed a lot since Screaming Females started up in 2005. Part of that is the shift into an internet-enhanced culture -- where experience of bodies in a room is sometimes subjugated by data, metrics, and the projection of identity through digital means. All At Once is a reminder there's a hopeful and joyful energy to underground music-making. Patience, perseverance, and long term dedication still work.
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