Purple Outside
Mystical Lane

Small solo escapade from 1990, “Mystery Lane” sees Gary Lee Corner, guitarist of the Screaming Trees, playing all the instruments by himself (receiving sporadic help from his brother) and composing all the tracks in their entirety.

With the axe, he makes a slaughter of the screaming trees before Uncle Anesthesia, smoothes the edges, and polishes the songs. The result is a brighter artifact compared to the ordinary compositional practice, a vague foreshadowing of the softened “Dust”, but without the same compactness. It is known that fresh wood, if exposed to the sun, shows hideous cracks, and to age well, it must remain in the shadow. Therefore, most of the pieces, characterized by the same vocal style and compositional pattern of the parent group, are weak and easily fall into oblivion. Just observe the unaesthetic knots of “Turtle” and “Combination of Three” up to the embarrassing and filler “Said Tomorrow”. The all-too-conventional “The Velvet Doorway” saves the superficial appearances and at least avoids the erosive action of the auditory worms. However, there are some good carvings: just listen to “White Plastic”, “Silver Castle”, and the chaotic rhythm of “Strange Days Flight” to realize the actual potential and the commitment put into it.

The work hasn’t gone down in history as worthy of being passed down to posterity, but to this day it remains a small must for fans of the Screaming Trees.

PS That same year, Mark Lanegan, his bandmate, makes his solo debut and manages to do better, but that’s another story.