Scream is an American hardcore punk band from Washington, DC that formed in 1979 within the vanguard of the
Washington DC hardcore explosion. Known for their incendiary live performances – an urgent mix of punk and
rock-and-roll swagger – the original lineup is vocalist Pete Stahl, guitarist Franz Stahl, bassist Enoch “Skeeter”
Thompson, and drummer Kent Stacks
Scream’s debut album, Still Screaming (1982), was the first LP on DC’s Dischord Records, followed by This Side
Up in 1984. The band toured throughout the US and were one of the first US hardcore bands to tour Europe and the
UK. In 1987, they released Banging the Drum, which was recorded at Southern Studios in London by John Loder. In
1988, No More Censorship was released on reggae label RAS Records. The album was the first to feature drummer
Dave Grohl, who replaced Kent Stacks for both this album and Fumble, which was released on Dischord Records in
1993. Until now, the band’s most recent release was Complete Control Sessions in 2011. Scream’s newest album,
DC Special, was released in the fall of 2023 on Dischord Records.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (Impulse!)
Joe Lally was onstage, playing at full throttle, when he realized that his band had found a true kindred spirit. It was the fall of 2021 and the Messthetics — the instrumental trio of Lally on bass, his former Fugazi bandmate Brendan Canty on drums and guitarist Anthony Pirog — were at Brooklyn venue the Bell House, digging into their uptempo riff workout “Serpent Tongue.” Joining them for the piece was a special guest, acclaimed jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, making only his second cameo with the group after a drop-in at another New York show back in 2019. That first meeting had been a success, but this time, Lewis’ presence sparked something new.
“It pushed the song like crazy,” Lally recalls of a passage when Lewis and Pirog began trading fiery solos. As the intensity kept building, the bassist felt simultaneously challenged and exhilarated. “You’re just holding on and going, ‘It sounds great,’” he remembers telling himself. “‘Just keep going.’”
That sense that there was more to explore within what began as an ad hoc union among the four musicians — lingered after the performance ended. Now, Lewis, Pirog, Lally and Canty have unveiled their first full-length album as a quartet- capturing the combustive chemistry Lally originally sensed onstage while expanding the collaboration in all directions.
The Owners (Dischord)
DC punk scene veterans in a female fronted, melodic punk/power pop group featuring members of Ex Hex, The Shirks, Gray Matter, Iron Cross, and The Problematics (among others). The Owners are Dante and Catherine Ferrando, Laura Harris, and Alec Budd.
