DESCRIPTION:
1. Sharks And Sailors - 0:00
2. Boom - 11:15
3. Seemingly Endless Steamer - 16:13

Listen on Spotify so that someone might get paid: https://open.spotify.com/album/1GOKrFxz48BDJSCyEJb1uV

This 1997 EP seems to be a continuation of the sounds honed on Tropics And Meridians, as well as a callback to Engine Takes To Water. The fuzzy guitars, and the vocals shouted far from the mic being the tellers. Sharks And Sailors is a sporadic rock journey, but a welcome journey. I struggle to come up with anything to say that wouldn't be better spent listening to it yourself. The song didn't have to be 11 minutes long, but June Of 44 like to experiment, and experiment they do with quieter moments of Doug Scharin being the amazing human drum machine that he is, never missing a beat. Silent guitar plucking that give way to slides later on. So strange to have a song start out so strongly only to end so quietly, and still fit perfectly, schmoozing into Boom very nicely.

Boom has Fred Erskine on the trumpet while Scharin drums, it's a very prog rock, jazz moment that serves as a bridge to Seemingly Endless Steamer. Very evocative of a desert vista, and indicative of the kinds of experiments June Of 44 were trying behind the scenes. Erskine has shown off his trumpet skills before on Engine Takes To water with the track "I Get My Kicks For You," which greatly served the melancholy mood of that album. Here it's less melancholy, more ritualistic. Tribal, thanks to the drums. Boom would later appear on June Of 44's album Anahata, but changed greatly.

I believe Fred Erskine is on the vocals screaming his head off for Seemingly Endless Steamer, just as he did with band Hoover. It's not all screaming of course, his voice had been surprisingly absent for previous June Of 44 albums, and it's refreshing to hear him make his debut in this way. Slurring vocals as Meadows and Mueller lazily play guitars, only for the song to kick into gear like "Take It With A Grain Of Salt" from Engine. It dies back down again as Erskine slurs about being a son of the sea, and not knowing the sea. It's an an amazingly dark song, reminds me of the tone given off by June Of 44's debut album, Engine Takes To Water. Fred Erskine is the titular steamer, screaming and screaming and screaming like a ship about to crash into port and warning everyone there.