Screaming Trees

Screaming Trees distinguished themselves from other Seattle acts that primarily reworked riffs drawn from Black Sabbath and the Stooges by merging sixties psychedelia and garage rock with seventies hard rock and eighties punk. Across their existence the band gradually moved beyond their initial abrasive punk foundation toward a harder-edged psychedelia rooted equally in rock and folk traditions. After issuing multiple records on independent imprints including SST and Sub Pop, the group signed with Epic Records in 1989. Although they ranked among the earliest Seattle bands to secure a major-label deal, Screaming Trees never achieved the commercial reach of fellow Northwestern groups and personal friends such as Nirvana and Soundgarden, a disparity the band attributed mainly to its unpredictable work patterns. Throughout their run the Trees earned a reputation for heavy drinking and internal conflicts that triggered several short-lived breakups. Even so they built a loyal audience that encompassed both listeners and fellow musicians.

Van Conner on bass and his brother Gary Lee Conner on guitar formed Screaming Trees alongside vocalist Mark Lanegan during the mid-eighties. Lanegan and the Conners all came from Ellensburg, Washington, a modest college town roughly ninety miles from Seattle. In high school the three stood out as the sole students drawn to punk, garage rock, and independent music, which eventually drew them together. After an earlier falling-out with the Conners prior to graduation, Lanegan reached out to Van several years later. At that stage Van already played in a band fronted by Mark Pickerel; the pair had recently removed Lee Conner, so they asked Lanegan to join on drums. Lee soon returned, establishing the lineup with Lee on guitar, Van on bass, Lanegan on vocals, and Pickerel on drums.

Naming themselves after a guitar distortion pedal, Screaming Trees cut their initial demo in 1985 only months after assembling. Producer Steve Fisk persuaded the owner of Velvetone Studios to issue a full album by the group. Clairvoyance emerged on Velvetone Records in 1986. Armed with that record, Fisk obtained a deal for Screaming Trees with Greg Ginn’s SST Records, which had already been releasing Fisk-produced projects. The band’s first SST album, Even If and Especially When, arrived in 1987, after which the Trees began touring the fading American independent circuit. The next year SST reissued the demo as Other Worlds and also put out the band’s third album, Invisible Lantern.

After Buzz Factory appeared in 1989 the SST contract ended, leading the group to record the Change Has Come EP for Sub Pop early the following year. Mounting tensions prompted most of 1990 to be spent on outside projects. Lanegan cut the solo album The Winding Sheet, which included contributions from Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic and appeared on Sub Pop. Both Conners launched new bands that released material on the SST subsidiary New Alliance: Van’s group Solomon Grundy and Lee’s project Purple Outside. By the close of 1990 the Trees had secured a major-label agreement with Epic Records.

The band reassembled to track its Epic debut Uncle Anesthesia with producers Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Terry Date. Uncle Anesthesia surfaced in early 1991 and outsold prior releases yet remained a cult favorite. For much of that year Van Conner stepped away to tour as bassist with Dinosaur Jr. Late in 1991 Nirvana’s Nevermind achieved unexpected commercial breakthrough, widening opportunities for the Seattle scene. While many peers capitalized on the moment, Screaming Trees encountered repeated setbacks. Before work began on the follow-up to Uncle Anesthesia, Pickerel departed and Barrett Martin took over on drums.

With Martin aboard the group completed “Nearly Lost You” for the Singles soundtrack along with the 1992 album Sweet Oblivion. “Nearly Lost You” became an MTV and alternative-radio staple in fall 1992 amid the soundtrack’s momentum, propelling Sweet Oblivion—already the focus of greater press coverage than any earlier Trees release—to the band’s strongest sales, surpassing three hundred thousand copies. The group backed the album with a year-long tour marked by frequent arguments. Once the tour concluded the band elected to enter an extended hiatus. During the break Lanegan recorded his second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, issued in 1994. That same year Martin played drums in Mad Season, the side project featuring Layne Staley of Alice in Chains and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, whose sole album appeared in spring 1995.

In early 1995 Screaming Trees regrouped to begin work on the successor to Sweet Oblivion. After an initial attempt collapsed, the band enlisted producer George Drakoulias, previously associated with the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks. The resulting album Dust arrived in summer 1996, nearly four years after its predecessor. Dust received favorable reviews, and its opening single “All I Know” registered moderate modern-rock-radio success. Sales nevertheless remained modest despite the band’s participation in 1996’s Lollapalooza tour.

After the Dust tour ended Screaming Trees again paused activity while Lanegan began his third solo album, Scraps at Midnight, released in 1998. When Lanegan finished yet another solo project the next year with I’ll Take Care of You, the strained relationships within the band appeared to preclude any continuation. Following a June 25, 2000 concert marking the opening of Seattle’s Experience Music Project, the group formally announced its breakup. Ocean of Confusion: Songs of Screaming Trees 1989–1996, issued in 2005, compiled highlights from the Epic era and added two previously unreleased tracks. Post-breakup, Van Conner performed and recorded with his band Valis, while Gary Lee Conner resurfaced in 2010 with Microdot Gnome. Mark Lanegan continued his solo career and collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age, the Twilight Singers, the Gutter Twins, and a series of duo albums alongside Isobel Campbell. In April 2020 Lanegan published the autobiography Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir, which recounted his battles with drug addiction and his contentious dynamic with his Screaming Trees bandmates. Less than two years afterward Lanegan died at his home in Killarney, Ireland on February 22, 2022, at age 57. Bassist Van Conner died of pneumonia on January 17, 2023 at age 55.