Titus Andronicus, Screaming Females, Diarrhea Planet
Tuesday, March 6 at Strange Matter
A new favorite trend to behold when March arrives: bands that are venturing to Austin, Texas for SXSW dropping by Richmond on their way there. This was the situation that allowed the stars to align and bring Titus Andronicus together on the same bill with Screaming Females. These New Jersey rock sensations showed a varied approach to their particular sounds.
By the time I arrived, Diarrhea Planet was finishing their set up. Their rendition of the theme song from Jurassic Park sounded pretty awesome, and the music seemed to share more in common with Titus. They both embrace a Midwestern rock sound that could be compared to The Replacements or Dillinger Four. Their energetic choruses were met with encouraging applause. The group is set to work on a split seven-inch with Titus and I can only imagine that the two will find a kinship on vinyl.
Screaming Females had barely left Richmond and they were already back. It had been a while since I had last caught up with the group prior to their in-store performance at Steady Sounds on February 16. If anything, they have only grown to be more and more fierce in the live setting, a powerful force to reckon with. This proved to be the case once more as they returned to play Strange Matter. A lot of the same marks were hit from their in-store set the month prior, but that doesn’t really matter when a band is as good as they are. Every musical part develops in such a way that it displays a pronounced finesse that is difficult to observe in most bands. They achieve it in every solo and vocal howl, while still fundamentally setting new precedents for bands in their genre.
I think it would be terrible to think that this group was given attention merely as a result of their lead singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster's physical appearance. It is delightful to watch an audience be caught completely off guard by her intense stage presence, but there is something so much more at play when it comes to this band. Screaming Females take the best elements of punk, garage, and indie rock and lay them out bare to help write their own passages in music history. Songs like “Bell,” “Ghost Solo,” and “Sheep” promise to go down in our own histories as some of our favorite songs from this time period of our lives. It’s incredible to imagine that a band could be capable of having that reaction within their fan base as well as among their musical peers. Screaming Females may very well be that band.
Prior to tonight, I had been on the fence regarding Titus Andronicus. It wasn’t for lack of trying that I hadn’t become a giant fan, either. Though there were obvious fans that shouted along to every word of songs from The Monitor or The Airing of Grievances, I soon discovered that most of the audience shared my ambivalence. Yet something happened while I watched them play this evening, particularly on the slow build that Patrick Stickles pulled off in the introductory lyrics to opening song “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future.” What became increasingly clear as Titus Andronicus played through the rest of their set was their strong musical foundation. Their sound exists as an acknowledgment of times prior, and they display a resonating arc in the execution of their ideas. Songs like “Titus Andronicus Forever” could exist in the same realm as any early Clash song, while “A More Perfect Union” might be the closest thing to a contemporary version of “Born to Run” that we've got. Titus Andronicus are children of rock music that combine their influences and find ways to fit contemporary ideas into the cracks.
One of the more exciting moments of the show was when Stickles discussed the motivation behind writing The Monitor. He understood the city of Richmond’s relevance in the Civil War, and wanted to offer an alternate perspective in regards to the story of that era that they told. They displayed this perspective by covering The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” The cover felt somewhat spur-of-the-moment but its purpose was more greatly displayed in its effectiveness as a prelude to “A More Perfect Union,” which brought the audience to a frenzy--and not for the first time that evening.
As the night came to a close and everyone slowly departed from Strange Matter, there were promises of more visits by all of the bands that played that night (apparently Titus Andronicus will be back in Fredericksburg on the 23rd of this month). One thing was certain, though--everyone in Richmond could get used to seeing this many awesome bands over the span of a single week. This is a trend worth keeping alive.
Words by Shannon Cleary
Images by Patrick Moran