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Well, another piece of the mystery resolves itself… Another
lost member of The Screaming Trees surfaces, this time in
a rather unexpected way. Mark Pickerel was the drummer for
the seminal 90's rock band, as well as putting in chops on the occasional
Nirvana record and many other little side things back then,
in what now seems the glory days. Now it seems Pickerel has cut
his long hair, thrown some brill cream in and ramped up a very nice
looking pompadour… to accompany his new haircut, he's made
the move to producing a strange kind of Americana music, filled
with traces of country, blues, rockabilly, indie pop, and even a
few lingering traces of hard rock. It makes for a nice sound.
Snake In The Radio is an easy-to-listen-to record; the songs
are easy on the ears, the tempos mostly mild, and the lyrical content
fascinating in its turn. I had never really considered Mark Pickerel
a songwriter, thinking him to be simply one of the finest drummers
of all time. Boy, was I wrong. "Forest Fire" starts the
album off with a very Nick Cave/ Leonard Cohen style
drag over a swinging drumbeat and sweet steel guitars. The dark-pop
vibe kicks in full blast on "Come Home Blues" while Pickerel
croons "I miss the black cat that we tattooed on your back/
but you are the feline that I really must have back/ And I know
that idolatry, that really is a sin/ I put you on a pedestal, higher
than you should have been". The background singers bop along
almost like a swinging jazz number, but the unmistakable darkness
of songsters like Chris Connelly and Michael J. Sheehy
is definitely in evidence. Not to be stuck in the crooning regimen
for too long, "A Town Too Fast For Your Blues" rocks it
up a notch, throwing in ample amounts of 60's psychedelia between
the vocal harmonies and the electric piano and the starkly brilliant
guitar parts and the quick stutter drumming. "Ask The Wind,
Ask The Dust" has an Ennio Morricone feel, drenched
in the sound of the high deserts, all twangy guitars and eerie steel
over an oddly electronic drumbeat.
Throughout Snake In The Radio Pickerel shows that he is
still a drummer of substantial power, but also flexes his muscle
on the occasional guitar, and shows he can sing along with the best
of the dark-pop crowd. "Don't Look Back" is full of the
Cohen vibe, with a fantastic country guitar solo and haunting background
chorus. "You'll Be Mine" throttles things up again, full
of reverb-drenched rockabilly guitars and backbeat drumming, sounding
like a B-horror film version of the Stray Cats. "Sin
Tax Dance" brings out the Neil Diamond influence, while
"Snake In The Radio" falls back to an almost ambient electronic
swing. "Town Without The Blues" wraps the album on a pensive
note, with a death-song 50's feel, great guitar licks, and a tentatively
falsetto-vocal performance by Pickerel that is weirdly offset by
the chorus of background singers… and a cool guitar solo. The
song has some cool instrumental and tempo change ups that make for
a fascinating listen, drawing the listener's interest back in for
another turn on the merry-go-round that is Snake On The Radio.
So listen up, rock kids… Mark Pickerel is back on the scene,
and he's playing somewhere… maybe in your town. Go see him
live, buy his record, do whatever you can to support someone who
makes music this beautiful and solid… and also to show him
how much you thank him for that whole grunge thing he helped to
invent… No Mark Pickerel, no Nirvana. Know Mark Pickerel, know
Nirvana.
-Embo Blake
Track Listing:
1. Forest Fire
2. Come Home Blues
3. A Town Too Fast For Your Blues
4. I'll Wait
5. Graffiti Girl
6. Ask The Wind, Ask The Dust
7. Don't Look Back
8. You'll Be Mine
9. Sin Tax Dance
10. Snake In The Radio
11. Town Without The Blues
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Mark
Pickerel And His Praying Hands
