On Power Move, Screaming Females emerge from the New Brunswick basement scene with a seismic rumble. This trio of endearing weirdos thrashes and shreds, their jarring riffs and blood-curdling solos have drawing comparisons to Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis and Black Sabbath's Tommy Iommi. Power Move is a frantic dreamscape, one that emphasizes both the grotesque and the vulnerable.

Guitarist/vocalist Marissa Paternoster is the group's focal point. Soft-spoken on stage, she undergoes a Hulk-like transformation in the studio; her vocals on Power Move range from a tight-lipped staccato ("Starving Dog") to throaty and languorous ("Skull"). King Mike bumps weedy bass lines with remarkable attention to detail. Drummer Jarrett Dougherty's cymbal-heavy performances, on tracks such as "Bell," propel the band into a walloping frenzy.

The lyrics often function as a reflection on a damaged adolescence. On "Halfway Down," Paternoster rewrites A.A. Milne's children's poem of the same name, shrieking, "I'm nursing on the bill and scraping at the hide/ Everybody knows that I lied." Kindly oblige and lose your shit.

Screaming Females are full of boundless potential and Power Move accomplishes exactly what its title suggests. In this DIY fairytale, the heroes wear hoodies. Their mantra is explicit: Youth is bored, youth is… read more »