[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guitar_screaming_females_hero_image_krista_schlueter2000x1500.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[TheRockStar They rock]] [[Music/{{Minutemen}} econo]].]]

A post-punk trio based out of New Brunswick, NJ. Marissa Paternoster (guitar, vocals) and "King Mike" Abbote (bass) teamed up with drummer Jarrett Dougherty while students at Rutgers University. Although the campus and surrounding town were lacking in venues where bands and fans under the legal drinking age could get together, the "Screamales" took advantage of New Brunswick's quasi-legal [[RooftopConcert house/basement show circuit]] and quickly began generating audience buzz, mostly from Paternoster's un-punk-rock guitar shredding and primal-scream vocals.

Firm believers in the DIY ethos, they have also managed to tour both the States and abroad and even appear on late-night network TV, all without major record-label or talent-agency backing.

In December of 2023, Paternoster announced the band was officially breaking up after 18 years.
!!Discography
* ''Baby Teeth'' (2006)
* ''What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.?'' (2007)
* ''Power Move'' (2009)
* ''Castle Talk'' (2010)
* ''Ugly'' (2012)
* ''Chalk Tape'' (2013)
* ''Live At The Hideout'' (2014)
* ''Rose Mountain'' (2015)
* ''All At Once'' (2018)

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!! This band provides examples of:
* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Averted - Jarrett is intelligent, well-spoken, and (until recently) handled much of the band's business matters.
* AlternativeRock: As a teenager, Marissa's two favorite bands were Music/TheSmashingPumpkins and Music/{{Garbage}}.[[note]]Music/{{Garbage}} vocalist Shirley Manson returned the favor -- and gained the band some new fans -- when she [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p7BzF-XhNDg/TjsVKRWrMbI/AAAAAAAABys/6jsW5cd9S1Y/s1600/shirley.jpg posted a picture of Marissa and Mike in concert on her Facebook page]] under the topic "New Bitches to Carry the Torches." As of Fall 2012, the two bands were not only friends, but touring and eventually recording together. [[IShallTauntYou Which didn't stop Shirley from once texting]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_67520001053219_1223.jpeg this]] to Marissa...[[/note]]
* [[AnimatedMusicVideo Animated]]/SurrealMusicVideo: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th-43wkrg_k This]] (potentially NSFW).
* CarefulWithThatAxe: Marissa averages several blood-curdling screams per album.
* CelebrityIsOverrated: They've been known to help opening bands move their gear off stage in order to set up their own equipment – not as a "hurry it up" move, but a genuine "here, let me help you" gesture. Marissa actively campaigns to have other New Brunswick bands on the bill with them, and hangs out in the crowd to watch them perform.
* CoverVersion:
** Music/NeilYoung's "Cortez the Killer."
** More recently, [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/screaming-females-cover-sheryl-crow,73983/ Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy."]]
** Near the end of their 2012 tour opening for Music/{{Garbage}}, Shirley Manson invited Marissa onstage with her to duet on Music/PattiSmith's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKQTHwkT9JU "Because the Night."]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOmKGjy-Ct0 They eventually recorded the duet for Record Shop Day]].
** 2015 saw them take on Music/TheMisfits ("Where Eagles Dare") and... Music/TaylorSwift [[http://www.avclub.com/video/screaming-females-cover-taylor-swift-220209 ("Shake It Off").]]
* CuteBruiser: Marissa, in a musical sense. [[http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/04/screaming_females_hoboken.html This concert review in the Newark (NJ) ''Star-Ledger'']] summed it up best when they described her as "a 4-foot pixie who can outshred any guy on the planet."
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Rose Mountain" fades into "Hopeless", the very next track on the ''Rose Mountain'' album.
* GarageRock: They're definitely a Basement Band.
* {{Gorn}}: The Creator/{{Troma}}-riffic videos for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ism4J7QvsZQ It All Means Nothing]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHG577Ync9k Leave It All Up to Me]]."
* HarshVocals
* {{Irony}}: There's only one "female" in the band. She does, however, scream quite a bit.
* LimitedWardrobe: Marissa's onstage uniform of shin-length "granny dress" and dark tights. Regardless of the ambient temperature.
* NobodyLovesTheBassist:
** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxXULyzRoAk this video]], Mike's entire job is to hold Marissa's tiny amplifier. And not blink. (Doubles as an example of LeaveTheCameraRunning...)
** For a more extreme version, check out the band's performances on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pyFXaeG3TA this public-access TV show]]. Mike's head is ''completely'' out of frame the entire time. (Fast-forward to 19:55 and 49:20...)
* PerformanceVideo: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE0BWA5LZYc Quite]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6lBQTslQXA a]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHDOKe9LkHY few]]...
* PunkRock[=/=]PostPunk
* TheRockStar: [[http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music/screamingfemales/mhow3/7.jpg Marissa and Mike become this on a large-enough stage.]] Other than that, the entire band are poster children for "low-key and unassuming."
* RockTrio
* ShrinkingViolet – Marissa has [[http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/marissa-paternoster-of-screaming-females described her high-school-age self]] as "unbearably awkward, pimpled, stocky, and brutish" – and insists nothing's changed since.
* SociallyAwkwardHero: For all her rock star moves while performing, Marissa's between-song patter goes right back into ShrinkingViolet territory. An example from a February 2013 show:
-->'''"This song's from our new album, UGLY." [[BeatPanel *awkward pause*]] "It's still new..."'''
* TheTheTitleConfusion: It's just "Screaming Females," not "THE Screaming Females." [[http://thechrisgethardshow.com/ Chris Gethard]] found this out the hard way during a Summer 2013 concert. Interviewing the band inbetween sets, he made this mistake -- and Marissa good-naturedly busted his chops for the duration of the interview. It went FromBadToWorse when he tried to introduce the band for their performance -- and she kept drowning him out with riffs from Music/{{Nirvana}} and Music/TheSmashingPumpkins songs.
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Averted. [[DudeShesALesbian No, really.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: [[http://s3i.dotphoto.com/i8280FA00-9E55-4765-B626-401724825950.jpg Oh, HELL yeah. ]]
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