Halloween is around the corner and Sacramento’s Screature provide an apt soundtrack for the darkest, creepiest night of the year.
Screature draws from the 80s goth of Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and The Banshees, the post punk dark-wave of Pink Turns Blue or The March Violets, some 60s style dark garage psych and maybe even early Nine Inch Nails.
You get the picture. It’s dark, it’s creepy. As the band says: “There are no happy endings—just endings.”
Overall there’s definitely a strong 80s feel to their latest record – Four Columns – the band’s second, but this isn’t just a knock-off.
There’s excellent song writing, hooks galore and fine musicianship at work here. Vocalist Liz Mahoney wails like an ethereal being with the solid background of Mrianda Vera’s tribal drums, Sarah Scherer’s swirling organ and the garage rock jagged guitars of Christopher Orr.
Screature also have a fan in gloom queen Chelsea Wolfe, who listed the band’s 2013 debut record in her Pitchfork year-end Best of.
We are Liz Mahoney (vocals), Miranda Vera (drums) Sarah Scherer (organ) and Chris Orr (guitar).
People say we sound like “Christian Death and the Cramps with a witch singing.”; ” the Sacramento Slits”; “the Doors, but good”. Christopher’s mom says we’re “Not Jazz!”.
How did you become Screature and what’s with the name??
Screature started as a good excuse to do some daytime drinking. From there it took on a life of its own. Some kind of subterranean being, a hydra with four heads and a mess of bloody stumps. Screature is an homage to our collective reptile idiot brain.
Makes me wanna clear my throat! It’s like a highway mirage, you think you see a glimmer in the road ahead, but when you finally get there it’s gone. This is all to say that Sacramento is a great place to make a scene.
What music has had an influence on your sound?
The bands we’ve covered speak to our influences as a whole. Absolute Body Control, The Sonics, Rudimentary Peni, PIL, Section 25, Tuxedo Moon, Scientists, The Doors, The Wipers, Standells, Tubeway
Tell us about your live show…
Screature’s a spartan band with a frenetic singer. Our sets are brief and hysteric, like a hypnotic regression gone wrong.
Best concert we’ve ever seen…?
Most recently we opened for Lydia Lunch Retrovirus. She blew our collective hairs back!
If you could pick any time to travel back to for music, where would you go and what year would it be..?
That’s a tough question. After much debate we ended up in New York City 1976-77. That seems the easiest way to kill a bunch of birds with one time traveling stone.
What tunes are currently on heavy rotation for you..?
On Heavy Rotation: Fela Kuti “Zombie”, The Kryzys, Henry Badowski “Life is Grand”, Hawkwind “Space Ritual”
If you could open for any band right now who would that be and why?
We’d love another opportunity to play with Lebanon Hanover. Our first attempt was thwarted by border hassles.
If you could only bring ONE record (you can all answer if you like) in the tour van/bus/plane what would it be?
Simple Minds “New Gold Dream”, Egyptian Lover “On the Nile”, The Stooges “Fun House”, Soft Cell “Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret”.
When you’re not playing and have some time off, where could we find you..?
When we’re not playing and have some time off we’re traveling and making art.
From the Random Question Generator:
What habit would you like to be able to break?
We like our habits, and we’re not giving them up!
