Why? - Eskimo Snow

I grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati. It was nicknamed 'The Bubble' because of how small it was. And how tight knit. And I hated it. So I went to Philadelphia for school. Yet at some point, I gained a huge amount of pride for my home town - The Nati. Reds, Bengals, Jerry Springer being our Mayor, Race Riots, Drive-Thru Beer, Birthplace of the Jewish Reform Movement, Skyline Chili, Graeters Ice Cream, and, maybe the most important of them all, Marx Hot Bagels.

So when I found out about R5 Productions my first semester in college and saw a description of a guy who started making music with a 4-track tape in a basement while being the son of a Rabbi in Cincinnati, I knew I had to go. And after an unbelievable live show of raw vocalized and drum beats with catchy melodies and awesome lyrics, I was hooked.

Last week, Why? released a new album, Eskimo Snow. And while it's not close to the greatness of Alopecia (2008) that wowed the shit out of me live (Or even Elephant Eyelash (2005), which had a lot of character and unrefined greatness), Eskimo Snow is still good. It just seems to be missing a lot of the Why?-ness that was so new and refreshing in earlier albums. It seems incredibly toned down and more vocal focused. That being said, "Blackest Purse" is beautiful. And "January Twenty Something" is a great song. But, overall, the album lacks a lot of what made me fall in love with Why?. The strong beats of songs like "The Fall of Mr. Fifths", "The Vowells Pt. 2", or "Song of the Sad Assassin" (all from Alopecia) made the album one I've listened to 50 times. Eskimo Snow's lacking that. And the middle of the album gets almost monotonous.

On Anticon Records, Why? is absolutely fantastic. If you ever get the chance to see them live, do it. They put on a great live show and sell some pretty cool T-shirts. Check out their myspace or follow them on twitter. I'm a little bummed about Eskimo Snow in comparison to past albums, but that in no way hampers how much I appreciate and love their creativity and their ability to present something new.

I hope everyone had a easy fast on Monday. Welcome to the new year!