Why?

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For me, the cringe-inducing lines are too much to overcome. It's a weird double standard, in all honesty, as one of my favorite records of the decade remains A Grand Don't Come For Free, by The Streets. I don't know what it is, but a lot of Wolf's stuff just makes me physically uncomfortable.

I love 2-3 songs on each record, but that's it. You can't love 'em all, I guess.
 
u2popmofo said:
It was on there for free just a year ago, so I won't judge in this instance. :wink:

That's kinda what makes the chess line for me. It's so ridiculous in and of itself that the serious delivery cracks me up.

One of my most memorable experiences from seeing them live last year was hearing them soundcheck 'Fatalist Palmistry' from outside the venue. The doors were open, and I could hear it perfectly from where I was. They didn't even play it during the show, but it sounded so fantastic during the soundcheck that I didn't even care. None of that had anything to do with what we were talking about, but I'm just glad there's finally someone on here that I can discuss Alopecia with as much as I'd wanted to for the last year and a half. :wink:
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Holy shit, I just got a free downloading pass from Scumbo. Somebody please record this for future generations to remember. :wink:

Yeah, it's true. Each time I hear it, it makes me kind of angry instead of making me laugh at its irony. No idea why, considering a good chunk of his lyrics are tongue-in-cheek.

Awesome. "Fatalist Palmistry" is another favorite of mine. I love the opening lines: I sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine and coffin rehearsal (love, love, love that one bit). I know a psychic who reads her own palms and her findings are personal. She keeps her fists shut tight and she sleeps on her side, well maybe she knows something I don't know." Plus, there's yet another recurring image in there with the catcher's mitts that show up again in "By Torpedo or Crohn's" (which, interestingly, is tending to be where a lot of this stuff reappears).

Oh, no worries, a good semi-related tangent is always fun. Plus, I know that feeling of finally being able to talk about an album you love with another person. :wink: Also, I CAN'T WAIT to see these guys live now. Only a few months away...:waiting:

If you shout... said:
"The Fall of Mr. Fifths" is still the only straight-up great song on that record, although I'll pretty gladly give you "A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under," if I have to make any further concessions.
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Really? We'll have to agree to disagree on this one then.
 
onebloodonelife said:
I love the opening lines: I sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine and coffin rehearsal
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That was my sig for a few months last year. :up:

While I love the entire song, I looooove this section of These Few Presidents:

I thought I had a pebble in my sock
I pulled it off
And shook out a wasp
It stumbled out lost,
And without a pause
Unstung as I was,
Still I stomped it

By the way Shouter, the "Arbitrarily yours" line was an old Bang and Clatter thing from years back where people would sign that under any negative or differing from the standard opinion type post. I threw it in there for you as I thought it fit well at the time, and then realized there's probably only one other poster on here who'd even recognize it still. Just wanted to explain I wasn't being a douche, just throwing in outdated forum inside jokes...which probably is kinda douchey in and of itself. :wink:
 
OK, sorry I agree most band names are kind of dumb, but I got the band/album names messed up here, Why? I guess isn't that bad, but the album title is horrible, anyone else here aware of what alopecia is? (Other than a really ugly word). I may be judging that too soon, perhaps it has a lot to do with a recurring lyric theme?
 
powerhour24 said:
OK, sorry I agree most band names are kind of dumb, but I got the band/album names messed up here, Why? I guess isn't that bad, but the album title is horrible, anyone else here aware of what alopecia is? (Other than a really ugly word). I may be judging that too soon, perhaps it has a lot to do with a recurring lyric theme?
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Alopecia areata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's a disease where you lose your hair from all over your body, essentially. And, yeah, he does talk about losing hair in at least one song on the album, "By Torpedo or Crohn's."

If we really want to dig deep into it, both alopecia and Crohn's disease (the chronic disorder he's describing in "By Torpedo or Crohn's," which I happen to have, actually) are autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases, as well as often causing social anxiety and stress due to their symptoms. Whether or not Wolf meant to make that connection is up in the air, but it's one that could be made. One more brief note: speaking from my perspective, having Crohn's has definitely made me ponder mortality a whole lot more too, which is another main theme of the album.
 
u2popmofo said:
That was my sig for a few months last year. :up:

While I love the entire song, I looooove this section of These Few Presidents:

I thought I had a pebble in my sock
I pulled it off
And shook out a wasp
It stumbled out lost,
And without a pause
Unstung as I was,
Still I stomped it
Click to expand...

Nice! That reminds me, I haven't changed my quote in my sig in quite awhile. Not that that's related to Why? so much, but just thinking aloud...:wink:

I listened to the first half of Alopecia again while walking around tonight, and "These Few Presidents" is definitely up there in my favorites too. That part you mentioned is great. I also like the bit right after it, when Wolf goes, "Wah-wah-wah." The delivery makes me laugh inside every time I hear it.
 
Fun Why? related fact: One of Yoni Wolf's side projects, Hymie's Basement, was conceived of in Minneapolis in a record shop called Hymie's Vintage Records. I've actually been in the basement of the place. Good times.
 
onebloodonelife said:
Alopecia areata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's a disease where you lose your hair from all over your body, essentially. And, yeah, he does talk about losing hair in at least one song on the album, "By Torpedo or Crohn's."

If we really want to dig deep into it, both alopecia and Crohn's disease (the chronic disorder he's describing in "By Torpedo or Crohn's," which I happen to have, actually) are autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases, as well as often causing social anxiety and stress due to their symptoms. Whether or not Wolf meant to make that connection is up in the air, but it's one that could be made. One more brief note: speaking from my perspective, having Crohn's has definitely made me ponder mortality a whole lot more too, which is another main theme of the album.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response, good to know its actually a part of the album, with the crazy colors on the cover I thought maybe it was an indie hipster band's attempt at random-humor.
 
THE WHY!? are playing Funfunfunfest this year. Should I listen to em?
 
1. That's freaking awesome
2. Please now work on scoring a second one :wink:
3. I finally get to hear the album next week!
 
u2popmofo said:
1. That's freaking awesome
2. Please now work on scoring a second one :wink:
3. I finally get to hear the album next week!
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Yeah, I'm pumped. It's my first official press pass. If you want to fly to Minneapolis, it includes a plus one. :wink: Yay! I forgot that you still haven't listened to it/that it leaked so long ago. I think you'll like it, even though it's pretty different than Alopecia.
 
Something tells me that you won't have a problem with that. :)

Oh, for what it's worth, everyone that attended the Gopher/Air Force game on Saturday LOVED the new stadium.
 
No spoken words said:
Something tells me that you won't have a problem with that. :)

Oh, for what it's worth, everyone that attended the Gopher/Air Force game on Saturday LOVED the new stadium.
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:lol: Nope, probably not.


That's what I heard! Everyone I know who went had an amazing time and said the game was one of the coolest experiences they've had at college. I'm definitely glad the opening went so well.
 
I've only listened to the album once all the way through, and I'm going to need a number of more listens to get my head wrapped around it. Despite having read numerous times that it's all standard "singing", I was expecting the actual songs to be similar to the singing moments on Alopecia, which were all some of my favorite songs from that record. The songs on this are considerably less poppy/catchy/hooky/whateva. I don't know what it is, but it's different than what I was expecting.

At this point I know that I love 'In the Shadows of My Embrace', and I absolutely love the opening line of the album, but the rest is kind of a weird overwhelming blur of unexpectedness to me. Will listen to it more. Any songs I should pay specific attention to?
 
I swear I wasn't ignoring your question. :wink: I actually need to give it more listens as well. Right as Eskimo Snow leaked, I started to get into Alopecia, so I paid more attention to that one. Anyway, definitely going to take another listen or four first.
 
u2popmofo said:
I've only listened to the album once all the way through, and I'm going to need a number of more listens to get my head wrapped around it. Despite having read numerous times that it's all standard "singing", I was expecting the actual songs to be similar to the singing moments on Alopecia, which were all some of my favorite songs from that record. The songs on this are considerably less poppy/catchy/hooky/whateva. I don't know what it is, but it's different than what I was expecting.

At this point I know that I love 'In the Shadows of My Embrace', and I absolutely love the opening line of the album, but the rest is kind of a weird overwhelming blur of unexpectedness to me. Will listen to it more. Any songs I should pay specific attention to?
Click to expand...

Okay, I can finally say a bit more about which songs I like. I completely agree about the first line of the album and "In the Shadows of My Embrace." Purely Yoni awesomeness. "Against Me" caught my ear after a few listens. The country vibes on "Even the Good Wood Gone" freak me out a little. :lol: Having the "looks like a sky for shoeing horses under" line come back in "One Rose" was a nice little treat. "This Blackest Purse" has a sweet piano line that I like a lot, and it's another favorite from the album. It's like the dark side to the piano part from "Two Weeks," if that one were slower, and well, slightly more sinister in a way.

The overall sound of the album is much more cohesive than Alopecia, but I can't decide if that's good or bad. I mean, it just sounds the same a lot. It'll probably grow on me a lot more though. (I hope.) So, in the end, I think it's more of a mixed bag for me than Alopecia, which I absolutely adore.
 
You mentioned many of my favs as well. I too don't like it nearly as much as Alopecia, but I do like it. Not entirely sure how much yet though.

They're here on Saturday. :cool:
 
And you're going to see them, I hope? Have you seen them before? They're here on Wednesday. :drool:
 
Yeah, I saw them last fall in a tiny, tiny place (I was seriously standing 5 feet from Yoni through the whole show). It was a really short show since they were doing two shows in one night, so I look forward to a longer setlist this time.
 
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