You Will Never Know Why

Sweet Trip's third album was a significant departure from their earlier releases, which were all quite different from each other to begin with. Their debut full-length was an intriguing mixture of space rock, ambient techno, and drum'n'bass, with elements of pop submerged throughout, and two subsequent EPs expanded on their dance influences. This all led up to 2003's astounding Velocity : Design : Comfort, a staggeringly futuristic fusion of glitchy IDM, shoegaze, and synth pop that was so ahead of its time that it took more than a decade to find a devoted cult audience. Before that happened, though, they released You Will Never Know Why, a more streamlined indie pop record than anything they'd done to that point (relatively speaking). The glitchy effects that helped define Velocity's aesthetic are nearly absent, and it would even be a stretch to call this a shoegaze album, as the group sparingly use wall-of-sound guitars here. The arrangements are sometimes reminiscent of Stereolab's more progressive pop moments, commingling bits of bossa nova, psychedelia, and space age pop, and a few tracks are more intimate and folky, with acoustic guitars and hand drums. While less frenetic and future-shocked than the band's prior work, the songs themselves are much more emotionally direct, dealing with frustration, loneliness, and hopelessness. The album's most memorable hooks (particularly "I will never fall in love again" and "you will drift away") express feelings of disenchantment, loss, and regret, but the melodies are often upbeat and vibrant, and the jaunty "Pretending" encourages listeners to follow their dreams before their time on this planet is through. "Your World Is Eternally Complete" offers a similar message of affirmation and invigoration even though life is challenging, demonstrating the band's positive yet realistic outlook. Final track "Female Lover" (unlisted on the original CD's minimalist packaging) is a bubbly, Krautrock-ish instrumental that seems like a throwback to the group's early EPs, making for a fun, fizzy, carefree conclusion to a poignant, occasionally heartbreaking record. Though not as sonically envelope-pushing as their second album, You Will Never Know Why is easily the most accessible entry in Sweet Trip's pre-hiatus discography, containing some of the most affecting, relatable material they've ever written.