Dischord Records have announced that they will reissue Fumble, the final full-length by Washington, DC’s Scream in May of this year.

Recorded in 1989 and released in 1993, this was the second Scream record to feature drummer Dave Grohl (the first being No More Censorship, which was released on RAS Records). The album has been out of print on vinyl for many years, this reissue has been remastered by TJ Lipple and features updated cover art courtesy of Alec Bourgeois.

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 Government Issue, 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 hardcore 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.

Grohl went on to fame with Nirvana and later the Foo Fighters, but has covered Scream songs before with the latter.

Fumble

“Caffeine Dream”
“Sunmaker”
“Mardi Gras”
“Land Torn Down”
“Gods Look Down”
“Crackman”
“Gas” –
“Dying Days”
“Poppa Says”
“Rain”