Why? because.

a good friend introduced me to Why?’s Elephant Eyelash about a year ago. a perfectly orchestrated outrageous collection of sounds, lyrics, and instruments. the piano always pretty, the vocals not as much, but a seemingly perfect fit nonetheless, plenty of guitar, and a very very very very eclectic mix other miscellaneous "instruments" as far as I can tell.

this band defies genre, so I’m not even going to attempt classification. (although itunes seems to think it’s hip-pop, which if nothing else, is fun to say.) the new album Alopecia is an admirable follow up to Elephant Eyelash. i honestly struggle to convey the sound of this band. rap maybe, with bells? twinkle bells. twinkle bell rap? doesn’t sound quite right. so i’m going to stick to fantastic disregard for conventions of music and sound. "The Vowels Part 2" rolls you into the album in a nonchalent sort of way, fading into the fantastic rest, tapping out with a distorted building of noise and words in "Exegesis." the song "Sky For Shoeing Horses Under” has my heart. solid intermittent chords and simple heavy drums anchor the two and a half minutes of suspended chimes and monotone almost instrumental vocals. similarly the hollow percussion of the “Fall Of Mister Fifths,” combined with organ echoes enough to give the album cohesion, but not enough to pin down anything. i would post the whole album if i could, but i can't, so track it down please.

my descriptions cannot do this band justice. give them a listen. if nothing else, your ears will learn something new.


Rubber Traits - Why?