The sometimes-solo, sometimes-group project Why? brought all four members together for a third EP, Rubber Traits, the title song taken from the 2005 full-length record Elephant Eyelash. Songwriter and sole constant member Yoni Wolf shows off his meandering vocal talents in four tracks, all of which fall somewhere between the lush melodic indie pop wanderings of Belle & Sebastian and the darker spoken word of Anticon labelmate Sole. The first half of Rubber Traits is a quirky pop song full of keyboards and guitar arpeggios with lyrics in the vein of Stephen Malkmus, Rilo Kiley, or They Might Be Giants, a Beach Boy-esque vocal phrasing thrown in occasionally, while the second half finds Wolf exploring his hip-hop-oriented side, with slow keys and drums over brief, dramatically delivered speeches about touring life and being "decieved" [sic]. At four songs, it's short, even for an EP, but it gives a good overview of Why?'s musical interests and ideas. It's eclectic, it's poppy, it's a little weird, but overall, it's not too bad.
© Marisa Brown /TiVo