Monday 15 November 2010

Review: Screaming Females + Sissters




Do you remember Circus Lupus? I remember being played their record for the first time in some bedroom in some countryside conservative parents' home. I was sufficiently impressed. Their spazzy sound was new to this 17-year-old. That was in 1995. If I remember correctly that is.

Tonight, I was reminded of Circus Lupus and what it felt like to hear or see a band like that in the mid-90s. I was surprised, it was loud, it was rhythmic at the same time.

Sissters are a two-piece from Berlin who have only just started to perform in recent months but have already been on tour with Des Ark. The classic guitar-drums-formation knows how to catch the audience's attention. Rhythmic familiar passages are interrupted by experimental sound intervals that ensure you don't get too used to one thing, don't get bored. The performance was solid and impressive and I overheard someone in the audience call the group "the best band in Berlin at the moment".

Screaming Females suprised me - positively. I hadn't seen them live before but on record I liked them. Liked, not loved. I expected a good gig but not a revelation. But a revelation it was. The rhythm section (drums and bass) was very solid and played catchy rhythms that made people dance while the front woman, a small lady in a long black dress, played guitar soli and almost ate the microphone when singing and grunting to the songs. It was noisy and poppy, catchy and experimental at the same time.


I left with a smile - it just felt like 1995. It just felt like Circus Lupus.

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