Screaming Females, a critically beloved rock trio from New Jersey, has decided to call it quits after 18 years.
The band — consisting of Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty, and Mike Abbate — made the announcement today (December 5). On social media, they shared a modified version of their cover art for 2006’s Baby Teeth, their debut album, with the album title replaced with “2005 – 2023.” A written message posted alongside the image reads:
“After 18 years we have decided that Screaming Females is coming to an end. A lot changed around us over those 18 years but at our core we operated pretty much the same throughout. We funded and made the records we wanted to make. We did our own art. We printed a lot of our own merch. We managed ourselves. Probably most importantly we loaded up our van with our gear and traveled around the world to play shows wherever you would have us. We tried to build and celebrate community the best we could. There are too many people to thank and too many things that should be said but right now we have some leftover merch that we would love to get out of Mike’s basement! Order something for you, your friends, your family, your pets!”
As for why specifically the band decided to break up, they haven’t said.
The group self-released their first two albums, and those projects got the attention of Don Giovanni Records, which has been the band’s label home since their third album, 2009’s Power Move. All in all, the band released eight albums, with what is presumably their final one, Desire Pathway, coming out this past February. The band has regularly received critical praise, and this past October, Rolling Stone named Paternoster one of the 250 best guitarists of all time.
