Josiah Wolf of Why?

I was on an overcrowded Friday afternoon bus in Roxbury, Massachusetts the first time I heard Why?. A bag lady across the aisle had vomited on the ground, the splat lining up with the opening bass line of "The Hollows" in my headphones. I remember being grossed out as I heard Yoni Wolf croon, "In Berlin I saw two men fuck in the dark corner of a basketball court, just a slight jingle of pocket change pulsing," only the first of many Why? lyrics to be etched forever in my brain, this one with an oddly Wolf-ian memory attached.

Four years later, at this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest, I'm standing to the side of the stage in a trance, spitting back all the images that come sporadically into my head - "Even though I haven't seen you in years, yours is a funeral I'd fly to from anywhere" - or the ones I mull over to myself out loud walking home, just because I like the way they sound. "My dad wore this face in old photographs, calico cats..."



Whenever I mention the Cincinatti band to a friend who's never heard them, I explain their writing style as beyond anything myself, or any musician I've ever met, could reproduce. And it's not just the imagistic, stranger-than-fiction lyrics of Yoni Wolf, the band manages to stack rhythms with insane precision and grace. Just check the video above, where Joni and his brother Josiah create a percussive mix of hip-hop and indie rock, as Josiah lays down a simultaneous combo of drums and vibes. Suck it Gary Burton.

After their set, I talked with Josiah Wolf before Why? had to leave for OKC for a show the following night. Unfortunately, our mics spazzed out before we got to the good stuff.

KRTU What have you been up to in the time between Eskimo Snow (2009) and this year's release, Mumps Etc?

Josiah I did some touring with my wife - not at the time, but my wife now - and I toured on my record, Jet Lag. I recorded that record in that time, and working on this new Why? record.

KRTU So Sod in the Seed EP came out in August and Mumps in October. What was behind the decision to split it up?

Josiah Well, we had too many songs for one record so we decided we'd put them on an EP.

KRTU Are they thematically linked?

Josiah We put Mumps together first and made that work, so the EP's kinda leftover songs, it's a little more eclectic.

KRTU When were they recorded?

Josiah We recorded about a year-and-a-half ago, in May of 2011, down here actually. Not in Austin, but in Denton, Tx.

KRTU What was the decision to draw heavily from Alopecia (2008) today?

Josiah It's a festival set and we wanted to keep it hyped. The songs we know off of Eskimo Snow are more mellow so we didn't do any of those, but that's just how the set worked out. We did stuff from Alopecia and the new record mostly.

Yoni Wolf once said in an interview that Eskimo Snow was "really the least hip-hop out of anything I've ever been involved with." If ES is their most straight ahead indie pop/rock record, then Mumps Etc. is Why's foray into Top 40. With a template of of standard 4/4 beats, infectious melodies, and hooks for days, Wolf, Wolf and Co. reach out into uncharted territory, missing occasionally, but that's okay. Part of the peerless nature of the band is their willingness to fuse together musical ideas that no one else could make work.