Screaming Trees were grunge's most psychedelic band. Mark Lanegan's cavernous baritone and Gary Lee Conner's swirling, effects-heavy guitar drew from sixties psych-rock as much as from punk. They were active in the Pacific Northwest scene years before the major-label gold rush but never achieved the breakout success of their peers, partly because their music was too strange and unpredictable to fit neatly into grunge's marketing template.
Sweet Oblivion, powered by the single 'Nearly Lost You' (featured on the Singles soundtrack), was their commercial peak. Lanegan's subsequent solo career and collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age kept him in the spotlight, but the Trees' contribution to the Seattle sound remains underappreciated.
Key Albums
Their most focused album. 'Nearly Lost You' brought them their widest audience.
Darker and more atmospheric, with Lanegan's voice at its most powerful.
Produced by Terry Date and Chris Cornell. Heavy psych-grunge at its best.
Why They Matter
Screaming Trees were grunge's great overlooked band, and Mark Lanegan's voice was one of the most distinctive in the Seattle scene. Their psychedelic approach expanded grunge's sonic vocabulary beyond the Pixies-derived template.