Screaming Females: From left, King Mike, Melissa Paternoster, and Jarrett Dougherty.
What if Taylor Swift had gotten her start as a musician playing in New Brunswick basements? Well, she might be producing music like the song you can hear in the video below, which features New Brunswick’s Screaming Females putting an electrifying spin on a song that was already pretty electrifying in its own right (in a different way, though): Swift’s recent pop megahit, “Shake It Off.” Screaming Females frontwoman Melissa Paternoster sings in a determined, commanding voice throughout, and unleashes a brief but powerful guitar solo at the 2:20 mark.
Screaming Females formed a decade ago and have released six indie albums; they’re widely regarded as one of the best Jersey rock bands of their generation, with most of the attention focused on Paternoster’s screaming six-string solos.
This video was made for AVClub.com’s “Undercover” series.
For more on Screaming Females, visit screamingfemales.com.
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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