If I had allowed pure sentiment to run the rule over this Top 50, this would be Number 1 for the sheer amount of memories I have accrued whilst listening to this band. In the spirit of fairness however (I know, that I have one of those came as a surprise to me as well) I’ve had to put it purely in the contextual vacuum of this year alone, and so here it happily sits. It’s something that I will mention a bit later on in the week, but something that became apparent to me very early on when putting this list together is that the number of plays a record gets does not necessarily push it to the top; the criteria is far more complicated and involved than just that. Or I might just be saying that to disguise the fact that I’m making this up as I go along.
Last Words: The Final Recordings is a real curio, which in itself makes it stand out nowadays in an era where very little is allowed to be curious anymore. If it had been released back when it was recorded, it might have raised eyebrows amongst many, but would have felt either not heavy enough for a culture becoming (thankfully fairly briefly) obsessed with identikit nu-metal, or – even harsher – as a bit of a leftover from a then-moribund “grunge” scene that they were never really a part of, despite the occasional crossing of paths. The strangest thing that I find about this release is that the timing is absolutely spot-on, with enough time passing to make fans salivate and occasional passers-by have a fond little “I remember them” moment, as well as touching upon the Anniversary Edition zeitgeist without resorting to reissues, which can only be applauded.
It also helps when the music is largely timeless. A 1960s Small Faces soulful psychedelic vibe married to 1980s REM pop hooks with countless nods to, pilferings from and paying rapt attention to all points inbetween made the Screaming Trees among their peers in any given era of their varied existence, so it was easy for them to slot back into the contemporary consciousness, aided immeasurably by a general buffing-up of these old demo recordings to make them sound as if they were recorded last month instead of last century. The collected songs may well be a gathering of ideas new and old from a band on the brink of winking out of existence, but play Last Words to someone who didn’t know this and they would be very hard-pressed to hear this as anything other than a bright, cohesive, purposeful, recent record.
If I was organised enough to have such a thing (and even more unlikely, could remember where I put it), this would have ticks in every box of a “what makes for a great Screaming Trees record?” checklist: Gary Lee Conner’s evocative and occasionally rather strange riffing; Van Conner’s Ronnie Lane-channelling basslines and general lynchpinning; Barrett Martin playing the drums with both invention and the apparent desire to hammer them as far into the ground as possible; and Mark Lanegan’s voice that reflects everyone else’s mood in any given song and provides as much gravitas, pathos or passion as anyone could ever hope for. In short, this is a Band doing exactly what a Band should do – act as a solid unit. And although they may all be doing their own thing now, it’s still pretty cool to see that in each of their own endeavours, they retain their own specific part in whatever they’ve done since.
It’s sort of sad in a way to hear this, and in such a contemporary setting. That it sounds so recent and fresh appeals to that remnant of youthful fandom that still burns in its own little corner of me. But the whole “Right then, this is it.” aspect of it all is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s a wonderful way to say goodbye though, and the whole “it’s cool now, we’ve grown up and we’re all talking” feel from this album is a far better way to sign off for both band and fans alike than just walking off a stage and sodding off. The closing, title, track couldn’t be more apt in terms of sound and spirit.
Related posts:
Recent Comments