Screaming Trees

As if 20-somethings needed another reason to feel old, the last great Mid-Western indie band of the 1990s have finally released a best of. Screaming Trees were indie rock’s answer to the Doors; combining classic blues rock with post-punk notions of alienation, walls of textural noise and Mark Lanegan’s husky croon. Ocean Of Confusion captures the band’s best moments from their 6-year heyday, including most of the band’s landmark Sweet Oblivion, a smattering of other gems and two stellar unreleased tracks. The fact is, now is the perfect time for a Trees retrospective. With modern rock bands (Queens of the Stone Age, Matt Mays) now re-treading the trail burned by the band over a decade ago, Screaming Trees’ material has survived better than that of virtually all of their peers and, in that way, have become improbable statesmen. Unlikely perhaps, but the honour is most definitely deserved and Ocean Of Confusion proves that.