2012 release, the fifth full-length from the eclectic Indie band. Mumps Etc. Is a meticulous work of morbid fascination and offbeat romanticism. Though there is a mysterious sickness (perhaps of the mind) that lurks about these 13 songs, one might also imagine the title as describing the musically swole state of these three Midwestern men as they bring their sound into glisteningly buff focus. Yoni Wolf, brother Josiah and Doug McDiarmid are in the pocket, the unbreakable rock core at the center of a spinning ball of sonic kaleidoscopie. And all the things one loves about them are still true: The grinning sun-warped choruses, that jangly Western lope, those confessionals cut with wry wit and crude details, set dancing down the odd knots of complex poetic daisy chains. It's just that... well, all of it sounds better than ever this time around.
Yoni Wolf is the new Bob Dylan. Yes, I know I only say that in order to get him into bed, but he being heterosexual refuses even my more efluvious advances. Let's just say "Mumps, etc." is well up to their usual standard. Every track is a hit! A loping hip-hop sway pervades every one. Lyrics obscure, maybe personal, most evade me yet captivate me with their pertinence, their glimpse into another American, bourgeois, domestic, struggling to get out, world. Tunes strong and captivating. The Jews have always cannibalised other peoples music and broadened it's appeal so here Yoni & the boys and girl take the black man's rap and by making it more melodic, watering it down of course, make it accessible to a wider audience. They bring rap/hip-hop in from the harsh mean streets and domesticate it laying it on the couch of the expensive New York psychiatrist who while exposing their innermost feelings protects them from the gutter. Although it hasn't got a driving rock'n'roll rhythm or a fantasy americana landscape buy this album it let's you eavesdrop on a world that isn't yours yet speaks of yours. One track sound like it's recorded inside a wrist-watch, now tell me what other band is doing that today. The album of 2012, no contest.
This band is really out there but I like it. I have a recording studio and listen to their records on my studio speakers and this record really jumps out at me. So much to listen to. So much going on. The sonic pallet is rich and pleasing and interesting.
Die Hip-Hop Kombo Why? lässt sich auch mit ihrem neuen Album nicht lumpen und bleibt sich treu. Super Texte, schöne Musik und immer eine gehörige Portion Humor. Rundum ein starkes Album.