Scream - Banging the Drum

It's a bit of a stretch to talk about seeing Scream in terms of pre-Dave Grohl on drums and post-, since the band had been having darn good fun in its early form just fine. As Banging The Drum shows -- certainly while the group's earlier smash-and-bash roots were showing at points, and drummer Kent Stax was competent rather than suddenly fantastic, there's always room for a band that can hold its own while expanding its reach just enough. Three songs breach five minutes or come close, while the shorter numbers, like the title track, with its distanced drums and semi-gang shout choruses, and the pure guitar instrumental "Nod to the East," demonstrate a world pretty distant from immediate inspiration by, say, Minor Threat. Read More