2012.07.31 June Of 44 - The Anatomy Of Sharks

Color: Black

Released: 1997, January 21

Label: Quarterstick Records

As great as the music is on this release, the most beautiful thing about this release is the packaging. It’s letterpress printed. It uses metallic ink. It’s custom die cut. It’s debossed. Its form mimics a matchbook. It so completely flies in the face of conventional album packaging. The Anatomy Of Sharks was definitely the kind of visual assembly that kept me interested in package design and contributed a great deal to the thought that I wanted to one day create similar things, if given the chance. Stuff like this is why the physical format will always be superior to the digital. And then we have the music. A stop gap in between the band’s second and third full lengths, it contains one of the band’s best songs in the form of “Sharks and Sailors.” The riff-driven, bass heavy rocker takes no prisoners and is a fine testament to the ferocity and heart of this band. “Boom,” an early version of a song that would later appear on 1999’s Anahata, bridges that gap to the EPs final track which takes the rawness of the first track and spreads it out a bit. One of the most precious EPs ever released, for sure.

(Excuse the god-awful photo. Jesus.)