Alice In Chains is Reissuing Jar of Flies for Its 30th Anniversary

Last Friday, Seattle-based grunge band Alice In Chains took to social media to tease something related to the 30th anniversary of Jar of Flies. Speculation swirled about what the cryptic posts could mean, but today’s the day and we now know that they’re opting to reissue the EP with a deluxe box set coming March.

Limited to just 3,000 copies and coming with a price tag of $225 USD, the box set will come in a screen-printed and UV coated shadowbox. Inside that box will be a tri-colored vinyl copy of the EP, a glass jar embossed with the band’s logo, a 60-page hardcover book, and a double sided poster. One note about that glass jar though: it’s got touch activated red LED lights and show some fake flies in it, mimicking the EP’s cover. The official store did have single LPs, but those sold out crazy fast — especially the variant that looked like it had flies in the wax. That being said, other retailers have variants for sale.

The band are also selling a range of Jar of Flies merch, including a cute whale and wasp plushie set, a special stakeboard, a custom poker set, a blacklight poster, and some admittedly sick shirts. All of that stuff is available on the band’s official merch site.

Looking back on that LP, drummer Sean Kinney told Guitar World that the band wanted to undergo a tonal shift with Jar of Flies following a long stint out on the road.

“After playing loud music for a year, we’d come home and the last thing we wanted to do was crank up the amps right away. We just went into the studio with no songs written, to check out the chemistry. It all fell into place…We thought it would be a waste not to put that material out.”

And what a waste it would have been if we didn’t get to hear those songs. Don’t forget, Jar of Flies has some excellent tunes on it, including “I Stay Away,” “No Excuses,” and “Nutshell.”