Why? – Eskimo Snow Review
I guess one of the “bad” things when releasing a great album is the ultimate comparison of your new material to the “that” album. Even as good as it might be it ends up being the measuring stick.
This by no means is bad in any way as an artist you ultimately want to release a great album. There’s nothing great in being mediocre all the time but truthfully when listening to music from a specific artist it’s hard to compare. As much as you try not to, it’s ultimately inevitable; I’d have to mention how great Why?‘s Alopecia was when reviewing Eskimo Snow.
Written alongside Alopecia, Eskimo Snow released one year after one of 2008’s best albums, Eskimo Snow was bound to disappoint no matter what. When I think about it, the intangibles that make Alopecia such a great album were things such as tone, and the feeling. It wasn’t like crafted with anything groundbreaking in terms of music, it was just the way Yoni Wolf and his random lyricism fit with simple instrumentation to create something brilliant. I can go on for days about Alopecia…
I was really, really excited for this album after hearing “This Blackest Purse” as it contained both the randomness of Yoni Wolf as a lyricist as well as underlying emotion deeply embedded within the song. You could call it similar to way the all of Alopecia did it but alas it wasn’t to be.
The album Eskimo Snow is both shorter in the number of tracks and length of time. Some positives though include the band trying and doing more musically then previously. Yes it is more pop then hip hop though it was pretty clear that was the direction the band was going. While I like some of the stuff the band does, it also hurts the delicacy and fragility of the tracks. Sometimes I’m just not feeling it even though I think there’s not that much difference in lyrics as much as it feels like it.
There are some good songs on this album, including the aforementioned This Blackest Purse, as well as Into The Shadows Of My Embrace, showing off a pop rock flare. It’s a solid album that probably lacks in quality only by comparison.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Certainly still good but not great.
This Blackest Purse by Why?
Into The Shadows Of My Embrace by Why?
