Screaming Trees Album: “Invisible Lantern”

It seems that the more creative a band seems to be, the worse they get along. By fusing this tension with a love of 60's garage rock, the Screaming Trees managed to produce some of the most consistantly exciting music of the many Seattle bands during (and years before) the grunge movement. Because the guitars are layered over each other, it's hard to believe they were a one-guitar outfit.

"Lantern" is a low-budget recording from their time on the legendary/notorious SST Records, home of hardcore punks Black Flag and the mighty Husker Du. Fans of the Nuggets-era rock bands of the Sixties, the Trees inject punk's power chords into the mix. Lyrics are a bit more psychedelic and less-meaningful than on later on in their career but still damn catchy. After a couple of listens, the highlights of this record will stick with you. Every song seems to have a distinct sound to it and each track can be complimented in different ways.

I would recommend anything from this band's catalog.

This is a classic as far as I'm concerned. It's a great psychedelic work, but the guitars are peircingly loud like nothing else I've heard, not like metal-sounding guitars, though. Less distortion, or whatever. It is constant electric howling. At first listen it took some getting used to. These guys remind me of the Doors. It's the vibe. "Transparent whales always make me feel like I've never been in the right dimension."

Take a little stroll down forest backroads and, with a little luck, you will witness the Mushroom Celebration and the Breathing Frond Reverie. Night-drift through the desert and, if you possess a strong soul, you will hear Mescalito's howls and the Powerwalking Ancients. Glide on solar winds and, bereft of everything, you will sing the Novae Illuminatio Conundrum and dance in the Umbra Pegasii Tabernae. Or let yourself be transported by this little magic carpet of a record and you will experience the rush and the glee.