Screaming Females
Ugly - DON GIOVANNI
FILTER Grade: 78%
By Erin Hall on April 5, 2012
On Ugly, the Jersey trio strikes an expert balance between grandiose metal riffage and brain-searing, infectious punk. There are urging head-nodders (“Rotten Apple,” “Expire”; the latter containing a particularly tasty touch of surf-rock swing), while others (“Doom 84,” “High”) lean on expanded bits of muddy guitar and much darker vocals from Marissa Paternoster. Opener “It All Means Nothing” swings the door wide open and closer “It’s Nice” is a rare quiet spot that brings Ugly to a real pretty close.