Description
Screaming Trees – Other Worlds – Vinyl Record
Other Worlds catches Screaming Trees at the beginning, when their identity was taking shape in a small Washington town rather than on a national stage. Recorded in Ellensburg in 1985 with producer Steve Fisk, the six-song EP first appeared on cassette through Velvetone before reaching a wider audience through SST. Its compact running time puts the emphasis on the original quartet’s immediate chemistry: Mark Lanegan singing over Gary Lee Conner’s guitar, Van Conner’s bass, and Mark Pickerel’s drums. The psychedelic side of the band is already central, threaded through songs that retain the impatience of garage rock.
Listeners coming from Sweet Oblivion or Dust will hear a younger, less polished version of Lanegan, but the contrast between his voice and the restless guitar is recognizable. The playing has the rough edges of musicians learning how their individual parts fit together. Rather than building the heavier, expansive settings heard on later albums, these recordings compress their ideas into short bursts. That scale gives the EP a particular character: the music moves quickly, yet the guitar colors and melodic turns keep pulling it beyond straightforward punk or hard rock.
“Pictures in My Mind” has a special place in the group’s beginnings. Lanegan later identified it as the first Screaming Trees song he wrote with Gary Lee Conner, making it an early example of the partnership that would shape the band. Fisk’s organ on that song and “The Turning” adds another link to the group’s affection for older psychedelic sounds. Those keyboards sit alongside the guitars rather than turning the recording into a studio showcase, preserving the sense of a small band testing what it could achieve together.
“Like I Said” introduces the EP, while the title song and “Barriers” help establish the moody, slightly dislocated quality suggested by its name. “Now Your Mind Is Next to Mine” brings the program to a close. All six selections belong to the early Screaming Trees repertoire, before the better-known material of their Epic years. The concise sequence makes it easy to hear how much of their musical vocabulary was present from the start: a taste for psychedelic imagery, a forceful rhythm section, and melodies that cut through the grit.
This SST vinyl release preserves Other Worlds as a complete standalone EP. Its appeal lies in hearing the first recorded version of a band whose sound would continue to broaden, with Fisk helping capture the musicians close to their point of origin. For listeners exploring the independent Northwest scene, it offers a useful companion to the Trees’ subsequent SST albums and their later major-label work. It also stands on its own as a brief, direct collection of psychedelic garage songs, with the personality of the original lineup already taking hold.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Like I Said
Pictures in My Mind
The Turning
Other Worlds
Barriers
Now Your Mind Is Next to Mine
