Um, WHY? do ESKIMOs have so many words for SNOW

I make myself lol sometimes. Holy shit, by the way... does Yoni Wolf read my blog? Or does he just read my mind? Back when their last album came out, I was complaining how I wish they would just make an album sans the rapping for once... and lo and behold we have Eskimo Snow. Way to do exactly what I want. For my next wish, can Pavement and The Pixies both reunite and make new albums, then tour together near where I live? MAKE IT HAPPEN, MUSIC GODS! Anyway... I was thoroughly pissed when I read the review for this album from Pitchfork. For me... this is the album I've been waiting for from these guys. Sure it's more tame and less challenging than previous efforts... but it feels the most SINCERE or all their efforts, even when Yoni's tongue is buried deep in his cheek. It's more focused as a whole to me. Yeah, I have most of my favorite songs on other albums... but those albums I have to skip at least half of in order to get to the worthwhile songs. Minus "On Rose Walk, Insomniac", I can listen to the whole album on repeat for hours. His lyrics are so freaking genius to me. They are equal parts heartbreaking and silly, sometimes all in the same sentence. Like on "Even the Good Wood Gone" where Yoni imagines himself as a Pharaoh buried in some ritualistic fashion, only to wake up alone, realizing his death is just as sad as the everyday man's death. And then he switches to poking fun at his own meaningless eventual death by bemoaning, "When I'm REALLY buried, I'll be buried in Cleveland". In the sense that there is "no flash photography" allowed at his grave in the museum, there is no flash photography at his real grave because really no one cares enough to want to take a picture. Either way both rituals are kind of a joke to him. The absurdity of death is prevalent throughout the album (like most WHY? albums), but it never gets too heavy because there is always a sly lyrical or sex joke to make you giggle. The jokes are so sublte though... and they themselves are sort of sad in a way.... or in some instances...weird. At one point he talks about wearing his ex-girlfriend's dead ex-boyfriend's boxers. The play on words is funny, but the idea is kind of disturbing. Thankfully there aren't many more instances like this.... haha. But if you like Why?... then I'm sure you're used to it by now. The music is more orchestral than previous efforts. Alopecia eluded to this new style shift... but this album is so much more jazzy and fluid. It's probably the most traditional sounding album they have to date. But in this case "traditional" actually works in this bands favor. According to Pitchfork this is the opposite of how they feel. To them this was their "safe" record. But to me "safe" translates to relatable or universal. Is that enough air quotes for you? Yeah, me too. The album ends on probably one of my favorite lyrical notes with "Eskimo Snow", where Yoni tells us, "I hum these prayers in secret/and sung them through speakers in rooms for people to hear it". This loaded lyric represents what it is to be a songwriter. You write these insanely personal things all alone... these little prayers or confessions, then you go out and release them to the world hoping that someone will hear it and get what you were trying to say. It seems like a brutal process... and in this case, it certainly wasn't in vain.





Eskimo Snow