Feel It Records, 31 Mar 2023
Why Bother? kick up a nasty good racket on their new full-length.
Why Bother?, Mason City, Iowa's favorite (and probably only) mutant punk band, have delivered a diabolical slab of weirdo synth-scuzz. A City of Unsolved Miseries picks up where prior releases such as Lacerated Nights and There Are Such Things have led us: warped and destroyed claustrophobic punk rock.
As mentioned in an earlier First Impressions review, I'm pretty new to Why Bother?, only learning of the band a short time ago. At first listen, something didn't quite click for me. But being an Iowa guy, I wanted to come back to it and give an Iowa band another chance. And on a second chance, the disorienting experience of Why Bother? started to land. I liked what I heard and increasingly found myself coming back to their stuff. So when I found out they had a new full-length on the way, I got excited. And as the pre-release singles arrived, that excitement only grew.
A City of Unsolved Miseries apparently references the band's seemingly bleak perspective on their hometown, and maybe with general existence. Songs dig into destructive traits, disturbing behaviors, and horrific events. For instance, there's specific references to Jodi Huisentruit, a Mason City news anchor that went missing in the mid-90's, in the song “Where is Jodi?”. The music fits this messed-up vibe well throughout. The songs play with trash can drums that pummel in a feral fashion while ominous bass tones sound haunting like they were recorded in an abandoned cathedral. And the guitars rattle and slash, cutting through the din in a glorious lofi tone that feels appropriately gross and blown-out, giving off a distinct basement punk edge. The band also drops in some positively mutant synths, sometimes providing an independent and insidious melodic line, sometimes creating an evil atmosphere, and sometimes accenting the lacerating guitars. But they're pretty much always present and crucial. Overtop it all are the disturbingly calm yet maybe deranged vocals that leave me feeling like I'm being serenaded by an ill-intending creature devoid of emotion. All together, this album can freak some people out.
And that's how A City of Unsolved Miseries should be heard – as an album. It holds together remarkably, a sort of observational film set to music, each song feeding into the next and feeding into the overall creation. The songs sound properly messed-up on their own, but even better in the context of the whole album. That said, standouts for me include the distortion-garage rock of “Self Indulgent Ways”, the haunting notes and atmospheric synths of The Bags cover “Prowlers in the Night” (this one's only available on the digital version), and the unsolved mystery that is “Where is Jodi?”. The paranoid and rambunctious riot “Eyes Everywhere” gives me great concern amid the twisted-good synths and mean riff and the almost early Joy Division / Warsaw vibe to “Get Used To It” touches a raw nerve. The opening guitar riff on “Shells” gets me thinking of “Suspect Device” and “Cumulonimbus” has almost-shoegaze synths that remind me of M83 in service of a song seemingly about nasty Iowa weather. And near the end, “Hawking Radiation” has maybe my favorite guitar riff on the whole album.
Why Bother? is it's own thing. I've seen comparisons to The Spits, but this stuff is less Ramones-driven and a little more in-touch with bands like Suicide and maybe even Wire. That said, I think fans of any of the aforementioned bands will end up loving this record as I have. Now go listen.
- Favorite song: maybe “Get Used to It”
- Favorite moment: the synth / guitar mix right from the jump on “Where is Jodi?” destroys me
- Favorite whatever else: the garage rock splendor of “Self Indulgent Ways”
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.
