Scream

Scream is a hardcore punk band from Virginia, United States, formed in 1981. The group comes from Bailey’s Crossroads in Northern Virginia and is active from 1981 to 1990, then reunites in 2009 and remains active.

Origins and standing in DC hardcore

The band is formed by singer Peter Stahl, his brother Franz Stahl on guitar, bassist Skeeter Thompson and drummer Kent Stax. It becomes one of the benchmark acts in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, alongside bands such as Minor Threat and Government Issue. Its music combines the speed and directness associated with hardcore with heavy political and social lyrics, an unpretentious approach, and a rejection of commercialism.

Sound and recordings

Scream records in the basement of Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, and becomes the first band on Dischord to release a full-length album, Still Screaming, rather than only singles or 12-inch EPs. The band keeps the ability to play at very fast tempos, but also includes slower songs such as “American Justice” and “Hygiene”, which have a metal-tinged reggae feel. Its sound also draws on rock roots and moves into areas associated with grunge, reggae and speed metal. The band rejects fixed genre labels and treats what it plays simply as music.

Line-up changes and later work

For the second album, Robert Lee “Harley” Davidson joins on guitar, strengthening the sound in the studio and in live performance. This develops into a dual-lead guitar style with more complex tracking and a heavier overall sound by the third album, Banging the Drum. After that album, Kent Stax leaves and is replaced by Dave Grohl, who plays on the fourth album, No More Censorship. The band then tours Europe and records its fifth and final studio album, Fumble, which is later released on Dischord. A live recording from a show in Alzey, Germany, appears as Your Choice Live Series Vol. 10.

Break-up, reunion and related projects

Scream ends in late 1990. Peter and Franz Stahl move to North Hollywood and form Wool. Dave Grohl later joins Nirvana, and Franz Stahl has a two-year stint in Foo Fighters from 1997. Peter Stahl works as a road manager for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age and records with acts including the Earthlings? and Goatsnake. Skeeter Thompson continues to work in bands in the D.C. area. Kent Stax plays in the Suspects, United 121, Spitfires United and Alleged Bricks. Robert Lee Davidson continues in Angelstorm and later starts Orangahead, Festival of Fools with Bobby Madden, and two bands both called God Is Dead, one in D.C. and one in Huntsville, Alabama.

Reunion line-up

The original line-up plays a reunion show at the Black Cat nightclub in Washington, D.C. in December 2009, and later supports Foo Fighters at a special show in Los Angeles in 2011. The reunited line-up includes Peter Stahl, Franz Stahl, Skeeter Thompson and Kent Stax, with later members also listed as Dave Grohl and Robert Lee Davidson.