A year and a half after releasing the acclaimed LP Alopecia, Why? returns with their fourth album, Eskimo Snow (out September 22). The two records are each other’s perfect foil: while last year’s release found Yoni Wolf and the gang delivering a tight set of intricate rhymes, live loops, slurred hooks and acerbic wit, Eskimo Snow offers a sung, sobering take on mortality that unfurls in lush waves of Americana and pop-infused psych-folk. Pre-mixed in Nashville by Lambchop’s Mark Nevers (Silver Jews, Bonnie Prince Billy, Calexico), this album is Why?’s most live-sounding yet – a shadowy and sprawling piece as intimate in subject matter as it is handsome in timbre.This record presents a band uninhibited and evermore accomplished at imbuing sound with mood. “On Rose Walk, Insomniac” rolls forth on a tempestuous din, with hard drumming through the chorus, with Yoni’s voice sounding like its running through a Leslie speaker. “Berkeley By Hearseback” comes in so soft, the guitar tones feel like waves of grain next to the splashy cymbals and a cowboy croon ricocheting through the background. “This Blackest Purse” weaves a melancholy that shirks dourness for a curious smile. And when the titular song brings the album to a hushed close, Eskimo Snow’s place in the narrative becomes clear. Rather than spit at death or threaten it with suicide, Yoni stops bucking against the inevitable. In the process, the band discovers a rich place that the rest of us can happily live within.
Eskimo Snow Track List:
1. These Hands
2. January Twenty Something
3. Against Me
4. Even The Good Wood Gone
5. Into The Shadows of My Embrace
6. One Rose
7. On Rose Walk, Insomniac
8. Berkeley By Hearseback
9. This Blackest Purse
10. Eskimo Snow
WHY? Tour Dates:
09/24/09 Thu Northside Tavern Cincinnati, OH
09/26/09 Sat Le Poisson Rouge New York, NY
10/01/09 Thu The Middle East Cambridge, MA
10/02/09 Fri First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
10/03/09 Sat William Pitt Union Pittsburgh, PA
10/04/09 Sun The Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI
10/05/09 Mon The Bottom Lounge Chicago, IL
10/06/09 Tue Memorial Union Terrace Madison, WI
10/07/09 Wed Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
10/09/09 Fri Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
10/10/09 Sat In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT
10/13/09 Tue Department of Safety Anacortes, WA
10/14/09 Wed Vera Project Seattle, WA
10/15/09 Thu Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR
10/17/09 Sat Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
10/20/09 Tue Echoplex Los Angeles, CA
10/23/09 Fri Modified Phoenix, AZ
10/24/09 Sat Club Congress Tucson, AZ
10/26/09 Mon Hailey’s Denton, TX
10/28/09 Wed BottleTree Birmingham, AL
10/29/09 Thu Grey Eagle Asheville, NC
10/30/09 Fri Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC
10/31/09 Sat Lenny’s Atlanta, GA
11/02/09 Mon The Social Orlando, FL
11/03/09 Tue Common Grounds Gainesville, FL
11/04/09 Wed Club Downunder Tallahassee, FL
11/06/09 Fri Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, LA
11/07/09 Sat Walter’s On Washington Houston, TX
11/08/09 Sun Fun Fun Fun Fest Austin, TX
11/10/09 Tue Jackpot Music Hall Lawrence, KS
11/11/09 Wed Firebird St. Louis, MO
11/13/09 Fri Rhino’s Bloomington, IN
