"It's been a while since I've seen a band and been really jealous," a guy I walked by said to his friends after the Screaming Females started packing up their stuff at Mercury Lounge last night. Yea, that's pretentious, but I feel the exact same way. As I watch Marissa Paternoster rip apart her guitar, half of me is jealous of her insane abilities, the other half of me is smiling because I know I'm watching one of the best bands on the planet .

I know I've been talking up/hyping the Screaming Females for a while, but it's only because they deserve it. After opening for Dinosaur, Jr. and the Dead Weather early in the summer, the band proved those shows helped convert a large number of New Yorkers with an almost full Mercury Lounge. The band played a few new songs, but their best live songs are still the ones off this year's Power Move. "Starving Dog" was my favorite of the very loud set. It's impossible to not shake your head from side to side when the band breaks back into the main riff after Marissa's slow fuzzy solo and unbelievable scream.

The Screaming Females had a lot to live up to after an amazing set by Shellshag. After signing with Jersey's Don Giovanni Records in July, the Brooklyn guitar/drum duo toured the West Coast with the Females. They opened their set by screaming, "Fuck society! Fuck sobriety! Fuck everybody!" The set was full of sing-alongs about birds and magnets and even a cover of my favorite This Bike is a Pipe Bomb song, "This is What I Want." It's unfortunate I have think of the hideous Matt & Kim for a comparison, but imagine if Matt & Kim retained their fun sing-along style, but threw a little Mudhoney or drum pounding garage rock in there. Alright, that may have been a retarded way of describing them, but what, you think I get paid for this?

The duo consists of Shell on guitar and Shag on drums. Her drum set consists of a snare and two toms. She jumps around with bells and windchimes hanging from her belt to add a little metal percussion to the mix. The two sing from the same Flying V mic stand and face each other while they play. Instead of being cute, it's a shitload of fun. They sing back and forth and rock out to some choruses that rival the Vaselines in their weird catchiness. After closing with the great "123," which repeats a chorus of "One, Two, Three," the two stomped on Shell's guitar while constructing a sculpture out of their hybrid mic stand and Shag's drums. There's no way anyone can watch Shellshag without having a good time.

Both the Screaming Females and Shellshag have shows in New York this fall. If you haven't seen either of 'em yet, get the hell out there.