The Foo Fighters‘ self-titled debut album recently turned 30 and the Dave Grohl-led band appears to be in a nostalgic mood. That explains why the group dropped a surprise cover of Minor Threat’s early 1981 hardcore classic “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” on Monday (June 30) as part of a three-decade celebration they’re calling #FF30.
The accompanying video for the blitzing punk tune — which features an instrumental track recorded in 1995 and vocals laid down this year — is a lightning fast montage of candid, chummy images from throughout the band’s career, including a healthy dose of sweet snaps with beloved late drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Though on the surface the blazing, barking vocals and triple-time speed of the track are seemingly at odds with the Foos’ typical mix of pop hooks and radio-friendly rock, the cover makes perfect sense given Grohl’s punk rock pedigree. The singer/guitarist who was born in Ohio but moved to Virginia as a child was introduced to punk by his cousin when he was 13-years-old, setting him on a path or rock that included teen stints in a series of bands including Fast and Dain Bramage.
He joined the D.C. hardcore band Scream in 1986 as their drummer, teaming up with the group that was signed to Discord Records, an independent label founded by Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye. The original version of “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” was feature on Minor Threat’s debut 1981 self-titled EP and on the Foos version Grohl barks out the iconic chorus: “I don’t want to hear it/ No, you’re full of s–t.”
The song is the first new music from the Foos since their 2023 But Here We Are album and based on the notes, the instrumental track was recorded around the time of the release of the self-titled Foo Fighters debut — on which Grohl played nearly every note — with vocals laid down sometime this year.
The cover is part of an expansive 30th anniversary celebration that has included a barrage of Instagram posts of classic music videos, promo shots and live performance clips from the group’s career, as well as a deep-dive Substack features notes, photos and ephemera tied to the band’s 11 studio albums.
The Foos have been off the road and out of the news for most of the past year since Grohl revealed last August that he’d fathered a child out of wedlock. They’ve begun to slowly re-emerge with the #FF30 rollout and the announcement of their first run of shows since the sacking of drummer Josh Freese in May; the well-traveled session and touring drummer was tapped in 2023 to replace Hawkins after his shock death in March 2022 at age 50 while on tour in Colombia.
At present the Foo Fighters are planning to get back on the road in October with a show in Jakarta at Carnaval Ancol, followed by an appearance at an F1 event in Singapore on Oct. 4, as well as shows in Tokyo and Osaka that month and a slot at the Corona Capital festival in Mexico City on Nov. 14; at press time no information was available on who will play drums for those gigs.
Listen to the “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” cover below.
