Why?

Yoni Wolf's voice has often preceded his band Why?’s music like a cowcatcher precedes a train, dividing listeners with mopey nasal slouching and elaborately jumbled lyrics. Yet over time it’s developed a more natural relationship with Why?’s increasingly well-orchestrated and wondrous sound—by this point, it’s actually a non-backhanded compliment to suggest that Why? could work just as well as an instrumental-rock band. The group’s latest album, 2009’s Eskimo Snow, is a softer companion to 2008’s balanced Alopecia, containing even fewer hints of Wolf’s ties to underground hip-hop. His vocal delivery still speaks to Why?’s admirably genuine weirdness, but nudges almost gently against Eskimo Snow’s chilly yet sympathetic drafts of piano, bells, and vibraphone.

Updated 03/06/2012