On an overwhelming animal like an elephant, no one notices the small details. No one notices the eyelashes. No one except Yoni Wolf.
Wolf, also a part of the experimental rap group cLOUDDED, is the brainchild of Why?. Though Wolf is associated with indie hip-hop and even records on the loosely hip- hop-based record label Anticon, Why?’s latest album takes root in indie rock.
Behind Wolf, a band plays bouncy Flaming Lips-like psychedelic-pop – lots of jangly guitar and twinkling piano with a couple of layered synthesizers.
Still, “Elephant Eyelash” is far from an average indie-rock band. Wolf retains a unique rhythm structure in his lyrics and tows the line between singing and speaking – often switching between the two in every song.
Most of all, Why?’s uniqueness comes from the vividly surreal scenes Wolf crafts.
“Elephant Eyelash” is not just a trip through a Freudian sex-dream (though that’s some of it). It focuses on sorting through the over-stimulated visual culture.
“It moves slow / like an exercise bike / on an airport walkway,” Wolf sings on “The Hoofs.”
Wolf’s surreal lyrics do not simply warp the world like a Salvador Dalí painting. Instead, they try to slow the pace of time and fully examine a moment or feeling.
When meditating on loss and nostalgia, in true poet fashion, Wolf avoids concrete language and uses a delicate and charming observation to make his point: “All the people who taught me / card tricks are dying / I’ve been trying to steal my grandfather’s / handsome from old photographs.”
There’s no one theme or no specific image that stands out on “Elephant Eyelash.” The album is like looking through a photo album – the only unity is the same photographer.
And Wolf’s true talent comes from his ability to make his audience examine each photo the way he does.
“You can determine where a river once was / just by examining the rocks / your face never forgets a cry / like trace remnants of acid in your spine,” Wolf sings on “Waterfalls.”
If all you see is an elephant, then you’re missing the details that matter.
