In the mainstream history of rock, Scream are significant only as the band Dave Grohl drummed for before jumping ship to join Nirvana. But this simplistic, reductive definition does the Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia hardcore veterans a great disservice, for within the underground rock world, Pete and Franz Stahl's band are rightly acclaimed as influential, inspirational, trail-blazing artists in their own right.
Officially formed in 1979, Scream's origin story actually dates back to 1977, when 15-year-old guitarist Franz Stahl began jamming on Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Funkadelic and Lynyrd Skynyrd covers with two classmates from J.E.B. Stuart High School, bassist Enoch 'Skeeter' Thompson and drummer Bennett Kent Stacks aka 'Kent Stax'. When vocalist Pete Stahl joined the group Scream were still searching for an identity of their own, but after seeing Washington DC punk heroes Bad Brains - "the greatest fucking band in the world" in Pete Stahl's recollection - the quartet were drawn into the emerging DC hardcore scene.
In 1982, the quartet would record the first full-length album on Dischord Records at Inner Ear studio in Virginia. Co-produced by the label's owner/Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye, Don Zientara and Faith guitarist Eddie Janney, and released as Dischord 009 in 1983, Still Screaming was a fierce declaration of independence from a band never constrained by punk conventions: "We're from the basement, we're from underground," Pete Stahl sang on We're Fed Up. "We want to break all barriers with our sound." That ambition would be more fully realised on their second album, 1985's excellent This Side Up, recorded as a quintet, the group now featuring a second guitarist, Robert Lee 'Harley' Davidson.
"I would go to see them any chance I had," Dave Grohl recalled in his 2021 memoir The Storyteller. "Lead singer Pete Stahl stalked the stage like a vagabond Jim Morrison possessed, bassist Skeeter Thompson held down the grooves with concrete time, and guitarists Franz Stahl and Harley Davidson (yes, you read that correctly) were a blinding duo of crunchy rhythms and solos... I would often fantasize that I would be in the crowd at a Scream gig and an announcement would come over the PA system - 'We apologize for any inconvenience, but due to an emergency with their drummer, Scream will not be able to perform tonight. That is... unless there is someone in the audience who can fill in for him...' and I would jump up on the drum set and save the day."
Grohl joined the band of his dreams in 1987, and toured with Scream as they promoted their third album, 1986's Banging The Drum. The young drummer played on two records with the band, No More Censorship (1988), and Fumble, recorded in 1989, but shelved until 1993, due to Scream's first act winding up in 1990, soon after Grohl's departure for the Pacific NorthWest to hook up with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The Stahl brothers subsequently formed the criminally under-rated Wool, with Pete later going on to front Goatsnake and Earthlings?, and Franz reuniting with Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters, and playing with J-Rock star J, a founding member of Luna Sea.
Last year, 30 years after the release of Fumble, the group re-emerged with a brilliant sixth album, DC Special, the announcement of its release cruelly overshadowed, just 24 hours, by the death of Kent Stax.
DC Special is a fitting tribute to the drummer's memory. Featuring guest appearances from Ian MacKaye, Dave Grohl, Brian Baker (Bad Religion, ex-Minor Threat) and a host of harDCore legends, and recorded, once again, by Don Zientara at Inner Ear in the weeks before his legendary studio was evicted from its longtime location, it's a very unique type of concept record, weaving the history of music in Washington DC into the story of the band.
Ahead of Scream's imminent return Europe with fellow DC veterans Soulside, Louder spoke to Pete Stahl to get the low-down on the album, and his insider's viewpoint on a tight-knit, supportive music scene that continues to shape outsider art worldwide.
