Categories : Music Reviews, Rap + Hip-Hop, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Lukas Clark-Memler |
Why? is a Californian indie hip-hop band, determined to defy conventional labelling. With the band’s fusion of avant-garde hip hop, and quirky indie rock, Why?’s modus operandi seemed to be refusing to conform to a set of rules.
So it shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise when Why?’s frontman and founder, Yoni Wolf, announced that the band’s fourth studio album, Eskimo Snow, would be the least hip-hop of anything he has ever done.
The songs on Eskimo Snow were recorded during the same sessions as Why?’s critically acclaimed third album, Alopecia. The album retains the lyrical magic and distinctive, if not eerie, soundscapes that Why? is known and loved for. Unfortunately, it lacks the cohesiveness of their earlier releases. Alopecia was a manifestation of post-adolescent angst and sorrow. The album went far beyond heartbreak and self-loathing to examine the desperation and confusion that a relationship can leave in its wake. Their second album, Elephant Eyelash, covered the same requisite topics, but shed a joyful light on the otherwise sombre realities of modern life.
Why?’s fondness for vague references and intricate, maniacal lyrics has created both shocking triumphs and meaningless experimental pastiches. After all, there’s a fine line between enthralling poetry and pretentious drivel. Regrettably, Eskimo Snow slips into the latter.
The album lacks passion and sincerity, and this time around, Wolf’s crazed declarations of betrayal and loss come across as bitter and uninspired. The songs of Eskimo Snow never quite reach Why?’s usually high standards. Wolf sounds awkward without being especially endearing. He is simply not as sophisticated or as excitingly chaotic as he once seemed to be.
Eskimo Snow is a disappointingly safe album. Why?’s previously flirtatious relationship with hip-hop fails to deliver this time around.
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