The Screaming Trees
one-upped their major-label debut,
Uncle Anesthesia
, with this solid, vastly underrated effort.
Sweet Oblivion
's lead single, the jumpy hard rocker
"Nearly Lost You,"
proved itself a highlight on the hugely successful, Seattle-themed
Singles
soundtrack. But even though
the Screaming Trees
stacked up quite well against their more famous peers in that particular showcase, the exposure didn't make them stars. Perhaps it was because
had been released several months before
, and the band thus couldn't build a sense of anticipation for a new album release, the way
Alice in Chains
and
Smashing Pumpkins
did for
Dirt
Siamese Dream
, respectively; nor could they capitalize on the extra publicity that goes along with new releases. For whatever reason,
didn't push sales of
, as the latter only scraped the lower reaches of the
Billboard
charts. And that's a shame, because the record is quite good -- the best songs here are easily among the best in their catalog, and the songwriting was their most consistent yet.
"Nearly Lost You"
is a standout, of course, but
"Dollar Bill,"
"Shadow of the Season,"
"Butterfly"
are nearly as impressive.
Mark Lanegan
's raspy voice conveys a weary wistfulness that adds an unexpected dimension to the group's otherwise macho garage-psych
grunge
.
The Trees
no longer sound all that punkish, trading in some of their early, noisy fury for a more '70s-indebted
hard rock
sound, but it's done with a graceful power that proves they were at least the equal of their more famous fellow scenesters. Unfortunately, the four-year hiatus between
and its follow-up,
Dust
, ensured that the band would be forever relegated to cult status. ~ Steve Huey