Lollapalooza is over, but many of us are still feeling the effects or in some cases bringing the effects upon us. Leedz Salon, the Ames business which was chosen to set up a booth at the festival, aided in post-Lollapalooza fun for myself and many others by continuing to bleach hair.

Jason Simpson (the artist behind my new look) said he bleached over a dozen heads at Lollapalooza. Simpson and the salon are continuing to receive business from the gig.

Also feeling the effects are the record sales of many of the Lollapalooza acts.

Screaming Trees’ Dust is among the bundle of discs released in sync with the giant festival, which kicked off two weeks ago. Dust ends the screaming quartet’s four years of silence since their last record, Sweet Oblivion.

Washington bred, the Trees’ sound is not as unique as it is complete. Van and Gary, the Conner brother guitar duo, haven’t changed a bit. Their combination of power and finesse still create a harmonious backing complete with Hammond organ and Mellotron guitar extras.

Mark Lanegan, the true stump of the Trees, provides experimentation of a wider range with his vocal work on Dust. Lost, unfortunately, is the singer’s monstrous lower range.

Lanegan’s talent is still there, but the one thing that separated Screaming Trees from other bands has been forgotten. “Halo Of Ashes” and “Witness” flirt around with the baritone Lanegan sound, but fall short of Sweet Oblivion favorites “Dollar Bill” and “Shadow of the Season.”

Making his mark in a big way is drummer Barrett Martin, whose performance hardly goes unnoticed. Martin’s bongo introduction on “Halo Of Ashes” kicks off the record with style.

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready contributes a guitar solo on “Dying Days,” one of many power ballads on Dust. McCready plays only a small part in the Trees more enhanced use of guitars.

Dust isn’t Sweet Oblivion, but it’s not a wasted effort. At least they haven’t gotten any softer like other Lollapalooza acts (that’s my rip on Metallica if you didn’t catch it.)

Another Seattle band popping up on the new release charts this month is the Jeff Ament side project Three Fish. The self-titled record is a conglomeration of work Ament has done with fellow fish Robbi Robb and Richard Stuverad over the past three years.

Like other Seattle side projects (Mad Season, Brad) Three Fish gets nowhere with its first release. Ament, Pearl Jam’s genius bass player, seems to have taken a career dive into the wrong lake with this pathetically depressing trio.

Similar to Mad Season or even some of Alice In Chains’ work, the Three Fish sound is monotonous and secluded. The music doesn’t invite the listener to stick with the disc, rather each song rides off the end of the one before.

Robbi Robb’s voice is the least bit catchy with a change in tone occurring maybe once on Three Fish. Even Ament’s bass work lacks the intensity he has proven to have on some of Pearl Jam’s harder tunes.

One plus to the album is the explanation of how the band formed as fish, which is broken up into three tracks aptly titled “The Intelligent Fish,” The Half Intelligent Fish,” and “The Stupid Fish.”

If you hated Mad Season (which you should have), you’ll hate Three Fish. Remember a few weeks ago when I promised a review of a record that sucks, well here you go.

I have also promised a little variety and that’s where Living Colour founder Vernon Reid’s first solo effort, Mistaken Identity, comes in. Reid’s heavy metal identity forced behind the hit “Cult Of Personality” is proven a mistake with the artists new hip-hop sound.

Reid’s melting pot of rock grooves, ambient textures, improvisational humor, odd samples, and rap creates a true original. Mistaken Identity’s creative intensity could be a result from the pairing of producers Prince Paul, who has worked with De La Soul and Gravediggaz, and Teo Macero, whose resume includes producing Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk records.

Reid’s new taste could also be a result of putting poet Sekou Sundiata, actor Laurence Fishburne, rapper Chubb Rock and turntable maestro DJ Logic all on the same record.

Really though, Reid’s unfamiliar voyage into music comes from familiarity. Hearing the voice of Living Colour rapping away on tracks like “CP Time” and “The Projects” is truly a treat in itself.

Mistaken Identity features a perfect amount of sampling, including a bit from Nelson Mandella on the overdone Kurt Cobain tribute idea “Saint Cobain.”

A few of Reid’s tracks would make a lot better b-sides (which is really just a nice way of saying they should have been left off), but Mistaken Identity’s musical diversity deserves commendation.

Corey Moss is a freshman in journalism from Urbandale, Iowa.