Why? – Alopecia
Why? make no bones about life and its idiosyncrasies in ANY of their songs, but for some reason, this sentiment comes out stronger than ever in “By Torpedo or Crohn’s.” My guess is that it’s because it showcases middle-class hell, or rather “first world problems” as some of us refer to it, at its finest. I mean, dear lord, just let that white rapper have health food in Hell. It may sound like I’m complaining about the song but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yoni Wolf is an incredible lyricist. He keeps up a certain amount of obscureness in his wording and plays with his rhymes like they’re Jenga pieces. But he’s also brutally honest about the mundane difficulties of things like vomiting all over your new shoes in the parking lot of Whole Foods and singing second tenor in a choir but not knowing the lyrics (yes, I’ve totally used that “watermelon” trick and it works). Connecting the apathetic musings is that whiney “nah-nah nah-nah, nah, nah-nah nah-nah” chorus that pulls you along for the mopey ride. But there’s something absolutely dreamy about this song and honestly I think a lot of that is due to the phenomenal piano work subtly poking out between Yoni’s magnificent monotone voice.