Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands: “Cody’s Dream”

Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands
“Cody’s Dream”
Bloodshot Records
2008

The sight of an old familiar face, or the sound of an old familiar voice, can bring many different emotions. Most usually experience one or two, though: Either you’re elated and spend the next hour catching up, or you’re like me (and Larry David) and will do anything to avoid the stop and chat. This could involve pulling your hat as low as possible, ducking behind your very tall significant other or ducking behind a display at Best Buy, either way we all do it whether we admit it or not.

The same goes for long, lost musical souls. How many times does a band of yesteryear make a not-so-triumphant comeback that makes you wish you could hide from it? At times it’s easy to avoid, but other times not so much. Sometimes, though, we hear something new without even realizing we already know it.

Washington-based singer/songwriter/guitarist/drummer Mark Pickerel has been around since the mid 80’s, when he was the drummer for the much underrated Screaming Trees. Based around the guitar and bass of brothers Van Conner and Gary Lee Conner, and the genius vocals of Mark Lanegan, the Screaming Trees were one of the great Washington based bands that never really broke through when grunge exploded in the early 90’s. After a handful of albums, Mark’s stint with the band ended after the release of the 1991 classic “Uncle Anesthesia.”

After leaving the Trees, Mark played in a short-lived project in the late 80’s with Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Mark Lanegan, as well the band Truly with former Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Since then, Mark has recorded his own music as well as playing on many other artist records as a studio musician. His newest endeavor is Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands. Their first album, “Snake in the Radio,” was released in 2006, and now brings the release of “Cody’s Dream.”

So far, 2008 has been relatively light for good albums, but “Cody’s Dream” is one of the better ones and is sure to make a lot of year end lists. Anyone familiar with the mellower Screaming Tree’s songs or the solo work of Mark Lanegan will be very at home with this one. Not to say this is derivative of those artists, though, as it stands on its own very well. Imagine a more country-sounding Nick Cave if you will. There will definitely be no diving behind that ridiculous Pirates of the Caribbean display with this record.

Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands will be playing at the Aquarium this Wednesday, April 2, along with The Breakfast. The show starts around 10:00 pm. Tickets are $8