Scream (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article refers to the punk rock band from Washington, D.C.. For the Los Angeles-based hard rock band see The Scream (band).
| Scream | |
|---|---|
 Scream - This Side Up. Left to right: Peter Stahl, Skeeter Thompson, Kent Stax, Franz Stahl |
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| Origin | Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1981-1990, 1996 |
| Labels | Dischord Records Jungle Hop Records Konkurrel Records RAS Records DSI Records Your Choice Records Torque Records |
| Past members | Peter Stahl Franz Stahl Skeeter Thompson Kent Stax Robert Lee Davidson Dave Grohl |
Scream was a hardcore punk rock band from Washington, D.C. active from 1981 to 1990.
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[edit] Biography
Scream was formed in Northern Virginia in 1981 by singer Peter Stahl, his brother Franz Stahl on guitar, bassist Skeeter Thompson and drummer Kent Stax. They are considered one of the benchmark bands in the history of the Washington, D.C. hardcore music movement. Along with bands such as Minor Threat and Black Market Baby, Scream ultimately merged the attributes of the movement, which were blinding speed, heavy political and social connotations in the lyrics, unpretentiousness of attitude, and shunning of commercialism. Their music is faithful to the roots of rock, but spun itself into other genres by employing sounds that predate the raunchiness of grunge, while saluting reggae and speed metal. Scream hated the classification of bands into certain types and considered what they played as simply 'music.' Recording their music in the basement of the now legendary Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA, Scream became the first band on the Dischord label to release a whole album,Still Screaming, as opposed to singles or 12 inch EPs. Like the world-renowned metal/reggae band Bad Brains, they could play clearly at breakneck speed, but also played mid-tempo songs like "American Justice" and "Hygiene," which were metal-tinged reggae.
For their second album, Scream added a second guitarist to their line-up, Robert Lee "Harley" Davidson (a veteran of the local heavy metal band Tyrant), to thicken the overtracks and dubs from Franz in their live performances. In turn this led to more complex guitar tracking, a more powerful live sound, and a crunchier recording sound for their third album. For a few compilation efforts and some live shows they added a keyboard player, the local keyboard wizard Bobby Madden, who for years was a colleague of Davidson's from the same metal scene.
After the 3rd album Banging the Drum, Kent Stax left the band for personal reasons and he was replaced by local drummer Dave Grohl, who then played on Scream's 4th album No More Censorship. Scream recorded Fumble (which was released several years later on Dischord Records) and then called it quits in late 1990. Pete and Franz gave rock a major-label shot with the band Wool, while Grohl joined Nirvana and helped make catchy punk the sound of the '90s. In 1997, Franz Stahl briefly joined Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana group, the commercially successful Foo Fighters. Thompson continued working in bands, while Stax committed himself to a family life. Davidson continued in other bands such as Angelstorm (in Huntsville Alabama) from 1993-1995 and creating new bands, including Orangahead, Festival of Fools with Madden in 1998 and two different versions of God Is Dead (1 in D.C. and 1 in Huntsville Al) from 2002 - 2005 .
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums and EP's
- 1982 - Still Screaming LP (Dischord Records, 20 songs, recorded October 1982)
- 1985 - This Side Up LP (Rough Trade/Dischord Records, 10 songs, recorded March & July 1984)
- 1986 - Walking By Myself/Choke Word7" (Jungle Hop Records)
- 1987 - Banging the Drum LP (Dischord Records, 11 songs, recorded 1985-1986)
- 1988 - Live at Van Hall LP (Konkurrel Records, recorded live March 28, 1988 in Amsterdam)
- 1988 - No More Censorship LP (RAS Records)
- 1990 - Mardi Gras/Land Torn Down 7" (DSI Records)
- 1990 - Your Choice Live Series Vol.10 LP (Your Choice Records, recorded live May 4, 1990.)
- 1993 - Fumble LP (Dischord Records, 10 songs, recorded December 1989, mixed December 1992)
- 1998 - Live at the Black Cat CD (Torque Records, recorded live December 26, 1996 in Washington, D.C.)
[edit] Compilation albums
- 1984 - Bouncing Babies LP
Fountain of Youth Records "Ultra Violence/Screaming"
- 1984 - Flipside Vinyl Fanzine LP
Gasatanka/Enigma Records "Fight"
- 1986 - Another Shot For Bracken LP
Positive Force Records "Green Eyed Lady"
- 1986 - F.R. 5 LP
Fetal Records "Solidarity"
- 1987 - Viva Umkhonto! LP
Mordam/Konkurrel Records "Feel Like That"
- 1989 - State of the Union LP
16 song benefit sampler recorded 1985 - 1989 Remastered for CD, April 2002
- 1991 - It's Your Choice CD - Your Choice Records
16 song benefit sampler containing songs that where left off the first wave (YCLS 1-12) of Your Choice Records' live releases.
- 2003 - 20 Years of Dischord CD
73 song boxed set (3 CDs & 134 page book) 1 song from every Dischord Artist 1980-2000 & 23 unreleased and rare songs compiled 2000-2002
