DC Special

A sporadically active band that chooses to make a reunion album needs a good reason to do so, something more than not having anything else to do. In the case of Scream, the fabled Washington, D.C. band whose body of work evolved from D.C. hardcore into a muscular, intelligent post-punk attack, it was a matter of celebrating friends and colleagues and the scene that brought them together while all that was still possible. 2023s DC Special, Screams first release since 2011s Complete Control Sessions (recorded with some help from one-time drummer Dave Grohl), featured the last recordings of Kent Stax, Screams original drummer, who lost his life to cancer in September 2023, less than two months before DC Special was released. It also proved to be one of the last projects recorded at Inner Ear Studios, the Arlington, Virginia studio where practically every notable band on the D.C. underground from the 80s onward recorded, shuttering one of the scenes spiritual homes. If Scream wanted to host a wake, theyd have good cause, but DC Special doesnt play out that way. The tone of the album suggests they were well aware this set of songs would close several chapters in their history, but it celebrates the present as much as the past, full of passionate and purposeful music about fighting the good fight in art and life. The songs touch on the many musical twists and turns of their history, including hardcore ("Bored to Life"), anthemic punk (Hel Nah"), speedy hard rock ("Dead Cities"), proto-math rock ("Represent"), reggae ("Tum Tum"), and even late-night acoustic introspection ("Last of the Soft"), and on each track, the band -- Pete Stahl on vocals, Franz Stahl on guitar, Skeeter Thompson on bass, and Stax on drums -- are in great form, tight and expressive without compromising passion and feeling. They also brought along some friends and neighbors to help out, including Ian MacKaye and Joe Lally of Fugazi, Brian Baker of Minor Threat, Jerry Busher of Fidelity Jones, Mark Cisneros of the Make Up, and even a few pre-punk and new wave fellow travelers, including Bob Berberich of Grin, Martha Hull of the Slickee Boys, and Michael Reidy of the Razz. (Oh, and good guy Dave Grohl is on hand, too.) Full of songs that demand engagement and shout down apathy, DC Special is a splendid summary of what Scream has done so well since the early 1980s, as well as the community and the worldview that drove them to strive to be more than just a really good rock band. They succeeded for four decades, and DC Special suggests they still have a future if fate has it in store. ~ Mark Deming