You probably already know the story. In 1986, Dave Grohl was a 17-year-old punk rocker from Rockville, Maryland, and he joined one of his favorite bands. Long before Nirvana and the Foo Fighters entered the picture, Grohl became the drummer for Scream, a band that was already three albums deep into a pretty great run. Scream were part of the scene around Dischord Records, and their fast, frantic sound included a pronounced reggae influence that they’d presumably picked up from Bad Brains. The band broke up in 1990, and Dave Grohl went on to become a two-time Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer. Now, Scream are back with a new album.

Scream have reunited a few times since their 1990 breakup — sometimes with Dave Grohl, sometimes without. In 2011, they released their Complete Control Recording Sessions EP, which they recorded live in Grohl’s Studio 606. In 2021, Scream announced a campaign to crowdfund a new album. That album is called DC Special, and it’s coming out on Dischord Records this fall.

Scream’s lineup on DC Special is the same one that recorded the 1983 classic Still Screaming: Singer Pete Stahl, his guitarist brother Franz, bassist Skeeter Enoch Thompson, drummer Kent Stax. (The Stahl brothers went on to form Wool, and Franz was briefly a Foo Fighter.) Don Zientara recorded DC Special at his storied Inner Ear Studio just before its eviction, and the album includes a ton of legendary DC peers, including Dave Grohl, Ian and Amanda MacKaye, Joe Lally, Brian Baker, Amy Pickering, and Mark Cisneros.

The new album’s opening track “DC Special Sha La La” is a fast, catchy rager that’s full of near-choral backing vocals and DC-specific geographical references. Below, check out “DC Special Sha La La,” the DC Special tracklist, and Scream’s upcoming tour dates.

TRACKLIST:
01 “DC Special Sha La La”
02 “Bored To Life”
03 “Somebody Love”
04 “Hel Nah”
05 “Tum Tum”
06 “Represent”
07 “Dead Cities”
08 “Last Of the Soft”
09 “Vanishing Commissars”
10 “The Flam”
11 “Lifeline”
12 “Call It A Night”
13 “Faces” *
14 “Politics Is Entertainment” *
15 “Black And White” *
16 “Lifeline Redux” *
17 “Smile and Bleed” *
18 “I Saw Ya (Wanna Be Like Captain)” *

* Bonus tracks

TOUR DATES:
9/24 – Washington, DC @ MLK Library #
10/27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon %
10/29 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill %
10/31 – Portland, OR @ MIssissippi Studios %
11/01 – Portland, OR @ The Vera Project %
12/07 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
12/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows %
12/09 – Medford (Boston), MA @ Deep Cuts %
12/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas %

# with Trouble Funk
% with Soul Side

DC Special Sha La La is out 11/10 on Dischord Records. Pre-order it here.