Violent Youth
News for the new year: Dischord is re-issuing Scream’s 1983 debut Still Screaming on vinyl. The DC hardcore quartet got a little attention in the 90s when latter-day drummer Dave Grohl jumped ship for Nirvana and registered another little blip on the radar when brothers Pete and Franz Stahl revisited Scream in their abortive major-label group Wool. Franz Stahl also reteamed with Grohl a few years later in a Foo Fighters line-up, while his brother Pete played with Goatsnake. They’re well travelled. Anyway: Scream went through a series of minor identity crisises throughout the 80s, flirted with melody and time signatures and evolved into a really odd mutant rock act. Still Screaming is the record that put ‘em on the map, though, and crucial listening for fans of Bad Brains (especially the reggae-infused sound of “Hygiene”) and, of course, Minor Threat (endless dismissals of corporate greed probably still cause Ian MacKaye’s eyes to well up). There’s a couple of songs on the record that make me cringe when I listen to ‘em (”Amerarockers” sounds like…ugh…Sublime), but end-to-end, it’s a touchstone of DC hardcore and an absolute fucking classic.