Issue #76: Alice in Chains – Jar of Flies

Released:  January 25th, 1994

Recorded:  September 7th – 14th, 1993

Genre:  Alternative, Grunge, Acoustic

Record Label:  Columbia

Duration:  30:49

Producer:  Alice in Chains

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Jar of Flies is One of My Favorites

And another EP breaks into this list of “albums!”  But to give Jar of Flies its due respect, it was the first EP to ever debut at number 1, probably due to the overwhelming success of Dirt.  The band has said that these songs were never necessarily anything that they intended to release and resulted from some impromptu sessions following their 1993 tour.  On this very interesting and very different recording from the guys, many of the sludgy, chugging guitars have been left behind in favor of acoustic versions of the instrument.

It’s pretty shocking to listen to something like “Don’t Follow” and then know that “Sick Man” came from the same bunch of guys.  The final track, “Swing on This,” moves a little closer to the Alice in Chains that most people are used to, but it’s still fairly different.  For the most part, Jar of Flies concentrates on melody and atmosphere.  There are a few electric guitars dotted around, though the bulk of the EP is carried primarily by an acoustic track or two and simple, straightforward drum patterns.  Of great interest and surprise is how Southern-ish the music sounds.  It definitely carries the image of a desolate, rural, Southeastern US setting.  It happens in world where little else happens, and though I wouldn’t exactly call it dark, it is very lonely and isolated.

The opener, “Rotten Apples,” is a little jangly, but in a distant, far off sort of way.  Staley and Cantrell do their usual eerie harmonizing.  The slow, sleepy pace of the track gently lets the isolation and detachment settle in, and overall, it’s a pretty creepy and mesmerizing piece of music.

“Nutshell” progresses like an alternative ballad.  Pleasant, yet slightly mournful chord progressions slide beneath Staley’s relatively clean vocals while an electric guitar begins dancing in and out with a bluesy tune.  It sinks even further into depression and despair, the standout lyric being “I feel better dead.”

“I Stay Away” starts out a little brighter, and then unsettling notes and sounds from the electric guitar start creeping into the music.  Metered bits of strings peek in a for a few seconds during the last half, and I can’t decide whether or not they’re supposed to be joyful or unnerving.

“No Excuses” speeds things up a bit, much like a mid-tempo almost-country song.  Cantrell takes over lead vocal duties here, but it still features the two harmonizing for a familiar sound.  The quick solo injects more of that Southern flavor into the music.  I guess it’s some sort of love song, but like the previous track, I have a hard time figuring out how much is negative and how much isn’t.

“Whale & Wasp” is an instrumental that brings us back to stale air and a cold world, though it does feature a beautiful melody on the lead guitar, as if to suggest there’s light out there, somewhere…

“Don’t Follow” is hands down the best song off the EP.  It sounds like something straight off of Springsteen’s Nebraska album, with a beauty in its sadness.  The way Staley and Cantrell harmonize almost suggests something bluegrassy-y about the melody, especially how their voices rise and fall.  The harmonica takes us back to Americana and heartland music, and the final part speeds up enough to evoke more of that Southern rock feel.  It’s amazing how folky and roots-y (I’m sorry, I don’t have better words for it!) that these guys managed to sound here.

“Swing on This” wraps things up, and as I mentioned, it has more the “Alice in Chains sound” than anything else here.  It’s upbeat, with a touch of the usual wailing guitar in the background, and it’s set to a slowed down, offbeat version of a Western swing rhythm with a helping of blues thrown in.  All in all it’s a weird way to close out the record, and though I don’t mind the track, the EP would’ve been a little tighter if they’d left this one off.

As I started listing to this again starting a couple of days, I couldn’t get over how far removed from Dirt this actually is.  Dirt is really the definitive Alice in Chains record, but Jar of Flies is an interesting record on its own merits.  I made a comparison to Springsteen’s album Nebraska when discussing “Don’t Follow,” and in a way, this is definitely “Alice and Chains’ Nebraska.”  It’s bleak and unforgiving, and yet it exudes “plain” beauty to it.  I’m not really sure how much grunge is left in this recording except for maybe the attitude; instead, it has the sound of a severely dampened folk record, like the songs have been slowed down, like the timing has been altered to make it eerie and slightly uncomfortable.  Jar of Flies is intense in its own lethargic way, and one of most solemn and unique pieces of rock to ever come from the decade.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from Alice in Chains in this series:

• 1992 – Dirt – Issue #21

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums

Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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