I recently read about the death of Van Conner (from pneumonia, aged 55), which made me take out this CD for a listen. I remember finding it at the discount section of a big Athenian record store. I thought "hey that guy plays in the Screaming Trees, this may be good, too", so I bought it. This was right at the start of the whole grunge thing, mind you. The Screaming Trees were still an obscure neo-psychedelic band recording for indie label SST. Being part of the whole Seattle scene, they soon followed their "younger brothers" Nirvana, Pearl Jam et al. to fame, before imploding due to continuous in-fighting - mainly between singer Mark Lannegan and guitarist Gary Lee Conner. Van was the band's bassist, as well as the fat, pimply, and myopic younger brother to the guitarist. I doubt that made him the most loved and respected band member, so it makes sense for him to try and "spread his wings": taking advantage of a temporary break for The Screaming Trees, he gathered a few friends to make a band where he could be the star, taking over vocals and guitar duties. Solomon Grundy had just enough time to record an album of Van's songs and play a few gigs, before The Screaming Trees were offered a contract from one of the major labels sniffin' around Seattle. Van rejoined the Trees for a second act, a more successful but not a happier one, act, and this album was quickly forgotten. Did Solomon Grundy ever really have a chance? Well, my initial reaction on hearing this album was "these songs would sound really great if Lannegan sang them". Conner's singing technique is OK, he just didn't have the pipes. The fact of the matter though, is that he could really write a nice tune; the songs are reminiscent of The Screaming Trees' SST period, with less of their classic rock influences, and more of an indie, proto-grunge sound. The LP was initially to be called Stone Soup and Other Stories. Side One ("Stone Soup") opens with "Out There", combining Dinosaur Jr.-like guitars, Lemonheads-like melody and Beatlesque harmonies. The chorus of "Presence of You" sounds a lot like The Wipers, a good thing. These influences, along with the usual 60's - 70's Screaming Trees heroes (Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane) are in evidence in the rest of the tracks, too. Side Two ("Other Stories") comes supposedly from another recording session. Certainly Opener "Time Is Not Your Own" has a more lysergic character; it reminds me of some late-60's comps I have, but then abruptly takes a turn towards (cowpunk legends, and SST labelmates) Meat Puppets territory. With the exception of the more straight-ahead "Gone" (which sounds a bit like Offspring), the songs on Side Two are slightly more complex/psychedelic than the grungier Side One. What this album clearly shows is that, at the age of 23,Van Conner had what it takes to be the leader of his own band. The Screaming Trees always shared songwriting credits, so it's impossible to know who wrote what, but Van proves here to be a talented songwriter, his solo compositions more perfectly attuned to the zeitgeist than his band's SST-period retro sound. The Screaming Trees would go on to even better things in the 90's, and dissolve in acrimony around the end of the decade. Mark Lannegan would employ his considerable vocal talents elsewhere with success, while the Conner brothers went back into relative obscurity. After Van's passing, I read that he he used to play with a group called VALIS, after a book by my favorite SF author. I had never heard of them, but now I have to check them out! As for Solomon Grundy, now that's a cool name, too! I take it he wasn't inspired by the old nursery rhyme, rather from the DC Comics villain. In any case, this is a good album that fell through the cracks, if you like alternative guitar rock/grunge you should check it out!
**** for Out There, Presence of You, Time Is Not Your Own, Dawn and the Dark, My Mind
*** for My Prison Is My Freedom, A Little While, Simplify, Gone, One Day
** for Quiet Sea
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