Screaming Trees

In the 1980s, the Screaming Trees were one of the key bands from Seattle, among those who paved the way for the explosion (grunge and beyond) of the 1990s. Their marriage of folk-rock, hard rock, and psychedelic rock essentially foreshadowed what would become one of the most prolific currents in rock music.

The Screaming Trees were formed in 1985 in Ellensburg, Washington, by singer Mark Lanegan and guitarist Gary Lee Conner.

The band debuted with the EP Other Worlds (Velvetone, 1985 – SST, 1988), which brilliantly fused the sonic moods of the 1960s (enveloping melodies, hypnotic cadence, heavenly harmonies, the gospel organ of The Turning) with those of the 1980s (mechanical choruses, boogie rhythms, and crescendoing riffs of Barriers). The title track is neither a psychedelic revival nor hardcore, but a straightforward power-pop energized by beat-driven frenzy. Everything smells of garage rock, beach parties, and college enthusiasm. Conner is a no-nonsense guitarist, capable of all rock tricks, who never wastes a solo or feedback without purpose. Lanegan is one of the most communicative singers of his generation, possessing a baritone both understated and elegant, with lyrics fascinated by religious themes.

After another transitional work, Clairvoyance (Velvetone, 1986 – Hall of Records, 2007), heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock, it was Even If And Especially When (SST, 1987) that definitively established their style through ballads like Transfiguration and Cold Rain, rough and rocky yet no less melodic and rhythmic, so ornate as to become hypnotic. Psychedelic accents enrich the sound with peripheral events that never distract from the central line. For the same reasons, the rhythm is among the most original of the time, almost always slightly slower or faster than a standard rock song. The guitar, primitive as if untouched by the technical innovations of the past thirty years, yet an inexhaustible source of soft and sinuous harmonies, makes “rave-ups” like In The Forest even wilder.

Imitating the Sixties is not their goal, as shown by Invisible Lantern (SST, 1988), featuring complex and lush compositions that still maintain rhythm and melody, with a much tighter and more aggressive guitar. The sound seems to move in layered “grunge” bacchanals (reminiscent even of the Stones and Cream) such as the title track, Smokerings, She Knows, and Ivy, while Walk Through To This Side and Night Comes Creeping, perhaps the most melodic tracks of their career, hint at commercial potential. Grey Diamond Desert perhaps represents a compromise between the two extremes.

That tendency was confirmed by Buzz Factory (SST, 1989), marked by a more linear production and a less raucous sound. While End Of The Universe fully displays the band’s cacophonic potential, brushing against Hendrix’s memory, and Black Sun Morning borrows the swagger of the best Cream, Subtle Poison and even more so Flower Web curb past excesses and set a new benchmark. Shedding all psychedelic embellishments, the Screaming Trees focus on what they do best: writing catchy ballads and accompanying them with masculine, imaginative hard rock.

It is therefore no surprise that the Screaming Trees practically begin a new career with Uncle Anesthesia (Epic, 1991), dominated by the near-folk ballads Bed Of Roses and Something About You, not to mention the dark finale of Closer. The band has left behind the rough garage rock of its beginnings and moves toward a professional sound, in step with the grunge era. Even if the instruments are not always up to the task, Lanegan’s voice compensates for many shortcomings.

The follow-up, Sweet Oblivion (Epic, 1992), with Barrett Martin replacing Mark Pickerel on drums, is an extremely ambitious work. The album begins solidly with Shadow Of The Season, featuring blues-rock guitar tolls and grunge-style shouting. Nearly Lost You (one of their most famous songs) unveils a gospel melody over noisy Cream- and Blind Faith-style jamming. The Secret Kind even indulges in convulsive rock and roll. The soul of the album, however, lies in anguished songs like Dollar Bill (another classic) and No One Knows, in which Lanegan drives the band toward atmospheric rock. The accompaniment is somewhat monotonous (always the same boogie strumming, with occasional old-school wah-wah, in a 4/4 time), making it difficult to distinguish Troubled Times from Shadow Of The Season. Behind the band’s sudden exuberance lie rock styles as old as rock itself, from Neil Young’s martial stride (More Or Less) to the Byrds’ jingle-jangle (Butterfly). In short, there is more form than substance. Yet the album undeniably represents a turning point for the band.
Despite a lineup torn by every sort of rivalry, commercial interests seem to prevail, keeping them united from album to album.

Conner also led the band Purple Outside, whose Mystery Lane (New Alliance, 1990) was released, likewise surpassing the average quality of the Screaming Trees. Van Conner, the bassist, meanwhile, formed Solomon Grundy (New Alliance, 1990), through which he was able to express a melodic talent that had remained in the shadows within the main band (My Prison Is My Freedom and A Little While). In 1999 he would finally join Aaron Stauffer’s Gardener.

Lanegan, for his part, launched his solo career with two albums that surpassed anything the main band had ever accomplished: Winding Sheet (SubPop, 1990) and Whiskey For The Holy Ghost (SubPop, 1993).

Four years after the last Screaming Trees album, Dust (Sony, 1996) continued their saga, enriched with an almost symphonic touch in its arrangements. The band recycles raga-rock in Halo Of Ashes and Dime Western, imitates Cream in All I Know (selected as a single), channels Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama in Dying Days, and echoes Nirvana in Witness. The catchiest moment is found in the martial chorus of Sworn And Broken, enhanced by a baroque organ fugue. Belonging to the more intimate side of Lanegan’s artistry are the gentle folk-rock of Look At You and the classical Traveler (a blend of Mellotron a` la Moody Blues and dreamy guitar work reminiscent of George Harrison). Conner and Lanegan remain an increasingly improbable pair.

Their drummer Barrett Martin formed Tuatara.

The Screaming Trees' original drummer, Mark Pickerel, reinvented himself as a singer-songwriter in the vein of Nick Cave and a master of noir on Snake In The Radio (2006). thanks too to producer Steve Fisk.