This Side Up

Baileys Crossroads, VA lays just a few miles outside of Washington DC, but in the 80s it was far enough to make it seem like a different world. However, the Virginia suburbs suddenly stepped up with the formation of Scream in the spring of 1981. Like most of the early hardcore bands, Scream had been extremely influenced by the Bad Brains, but they seemed to be more advanced musicians and had more of a rock and roll sensibility than the other bands in the punk scene.

In 1982, they went into Inner Ear studio with Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat) and Eddie Janney (Faith) to record Dischord's first full-length album, Still Screaming. Scream went on to record four more full-length albums, their last two with a young Dave Grohl taking over for Kent Stax on drums. Scream toured more than any Dischord band other than Fugazi and was one of the first American punk bands to establish the DIY tour routes through Europe that are still used today.

This Side Up, Scream's second full-length, was recorded during two recording sessions in 1984. The first session was produced by DR Know (Bad Brains) and Joey Pea. The second session was produced by Ian Mackaye and features the debut of Robert 'Harley' Davidson on second guitar.