Album retrospective: Screaming Trees — 'Uncle Anesthesia'

Jake Avery, Music Editor, reflects on the classic album from grunge's unsung heroes

THE recent passing of Screaming Trees’ bassist Van Conner, occurring less than a year after front man Mark Lanegan’s, solicits an appraisal of the Ellensburg band’s iconic hard rock and psychedel ic sound, and no other album encapsulates this more than the fifth addition to their discography, ‘Uncle Anesthesia’. Released in 1991, it didn’t receive much critical acclaim — the apex of this would arrive in the following year’s ‘Sweet Oblivion’ LP — but it did prove to be a timeless cult classic adored by grunge and clas sic rock fans alike. Mark Lanegan’s charred vocal delivery in conjunction with a genre-bending array of guitar work helped solidify ‘Uncle Anesthesia’ as an essential and distinctive part of the grunge catalogue.

Spurring the album forwards is Gary Lee Conner’s guitar tone, one that thrives as a blustering force of distortion and sporadic chaos throughout each leading riff. Tracks such as ‘Story of Her Fate’ and ‘Ocean of Confusion’ exhibit this and establish a simple yet extremely effective approach; sizzling leading lines soar above waves of frenzied and gritty attacks, thrusting the album forwards with a keen sense of immediacy. The contrast of these layers provides a satisfying scorch whilst also retaining clarity — aspects no doubt embellished by the slick production style of metal maestro Terry Date and grunge titan Chris Cornell. Further balance is also established with Van Conner’s swooping basslines, all of which serve excellently in their own right. The second track ‘Bed of Roses’ exhibits this perfectly, with the guitar and vocals gliding alongside an incredibly contagious ascending and descending bass hook. What really di versifies the album from a tonality cen tred entirely on tumbling distortion, however, is the jovial and bright nature of the riffs incorporated into tracks such as ‘Lay Your Head Down’, whereby arpeggiated chords ring in a folkish manner and a recorder accompanies towards the end. The band’s ability to weave in flourishes from different genres remains intrinsic to the flow of ‘Uncle Anes thesia’, allowing for moody explorations of psychedelia to coalesce with chunky guitar hooks seamlessly. Slow burner ‘Before We Arise’ leaves space for Lanegan’s brooding vocals to lead the listener through the darkness before ‘Something About Today’ restores a vibrant tone, and later on, a horn section accompanies Lanegan’s despairing vocals throughout ‘Dissapearing’; Screaming Trees curate their mood and tone delicately whilst experimenting with a variety of different sounds.

SCREAMING TREES CURATE THEIR MOOD AND TONE DELICATELY

Lanegan’s vocals undeniably sew the lyrical threads of ‘Uncle Anesthesia’'s brooding gloom. Struggle and anguish form the backbone of the album’s ideas, both of which are bolstered by the gruff quality that Lanegan’s voice possesses, an attribute that is sonically enhanced by the rich delivery he brings to every line.

The embers of Lanegan’s words waver in opener

‘Beyond This Horizon’, as he warns that the ‘shadow of the sun has crossed the sky’; lyrical descriptions such as this establish a world full of a peculiar and destructive beauty with gothic imagery, as laughing ghosts and visions on walls project the way the world folds in when troubles arise in life. The artwork ties loosely into this notion of the world transforming because of your fears; it evokes ideas of an unsettling fairy-tale, the four armed, green skinned smoking man on a toadstool at its centre connoting a warped visualisation of a world similar to that of Alice in Wonderland's. The album’s lyrics reverberate and echo with enigma, and are made all the more captivating by the inexhaustible sense of spirit and desperation that Lanegan brings in heaps.

‘Uncle Anesthesia’ was a major stylistic stride for a band that for many went unnoticed throughout their career span in the 1990s. It’s an engaging and revitalising delve into grunge that blows the genre open and ultimately transcends it, ensnaring listeners with a tenacious bite on melodic progression possessed by no other artists.