Prior to fronting her screechy indie rock trio, vocalist/guitarist Marissa Paternoster started recording under the pseudonym
Noun while she was attending high school in New Jersey. Paternoster's solo work was way more subdued than that of
Screaming Females and filled with dark, dreamy melodies representative of
PJ Harvey and
Siouxsie and the Banshees. For five years, nearly 40 songs sat on her father's laptop as
Screaming Females worked to become established. In 2010, the recordings resurfaced. After recruiting Miranda Taylor (
Black Wine, Hunchback, Full of Fancy), Angela Boylan (
Cheeky), and fellow
Screaming Females members Jarrett Dougherty and King Mike to help her flesh out the material, Paternoster released
Noun's first album,
Holy Hell, on Don Giovanni Records. ~ Jason Lymangrover