2012.08.18 Shellac - At Action Park

Color: Black

Released: 1994, October 24

Label: Touch and Go

No one makes record like this anymore. Musically or Aesthetically. Ok, so that’s a pretty hefty assumption. But seriously this thing is virtually untouchable in its execution. Musically, this makes a great deal of “rock and roll” laughable. When you consider how raw and abrasive At Action Park is tonally, it’s hard not scoff at bands that tout themselves as “dangerous” by any stretch of the imagination. This music isn’t “pretty”  but it’s beautiful. My guess is that Shellac wouldn’t even necessarily consider themselves a “rock” band for the very reasons I described above. No, the band are something much more primal and unhinged. Albini’s guitar tone might make some cringe but to these ears it sounds exactly as it should… and don’t even get me started on Bob Weston’s bass tone. I think that it might even be my most favorite element of Shellac’s sound. It’s not fucking around - it’s there to annihilate everything in its path. Most of his lines are not complex and are very repetitive. There’s no fuss about them and that what makes them so great. What’s also entirely great is the album’s packaging. Black and silver inks letterpressed onto chipboard paper. The cover is so minimal in it’s use of space, but to hold that chipboard paper in your hands and run your fingers over the slight deboss that letterpress provides invokes something as primal and textural as the band’s music. The inside of the sleeve reveals the band’s utmost respect for both the audible and visual processes of this record. Images of several microphones grace the inside and lay alongside the album credits that go so far as to list exactly what kind of printing presses were used to create the album art. Few people get this. The value of these processes are lost on the majority of the music consuming public. Packaging like this seems to be a lost art. So it’s with great excitement that when a friend of mine approached me about doing album art for his band, I gladly accepted after he mentioned he wanted something really special and this particular album was the first thing he referenced. The only difficult thing is trying to remain inspired while knowing full well that whatever I produce will pale in comparison to this.