Why? specializes in indie pop on EP

The idea of pop gets a total makeover.

By Meg Walsh

Published March 7, 2006

Singing about suicide notes, Guinness, gold teeth and nosebleeds, Oakland's Why? is reinventing the sound of pop music.

Why? describes itself as "poignantly morbid pop," and with the release of its latest EP, Rubber Traits, Why? is giving indie pop a new face. Doug McDiarmid holds it down as pianist, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Matt Meldon is the band's guitarist, and Josiah Wolf plays the drums. They bring together indie pop and underground spoken-word rap. The instrumentation, ranging from pianos to synthesizers to acoustic guitars, is unlike typical pop music today. Each track brings something different to the EP.

The EP contains the title track, that track's music video and three previously unreleased tracks. "Rubber Traits" was a single from Why?'s previous album, Elephant Eyelashes.

The video for "Rubber Traits" is excellent, displaying McDiarmid walking down the street past a wall that continues to change colors. The lyrics to the song literally jump out of his mouth, much like in The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" when John Lennon sings "All You Need Is Love."

The EP is only four tracks, and the last two tracks both play less than one minute and 30 seconds. But the EP still contains more writing genius than most self-described pop albums today.

The lyrical prowess of McDiarmid can be found on each track. On "Deceived," the line "gotta get out of my Eddie Haskel patterns" is by far one of the best lines I've heard in a long time.

On "Rubber Traits," McDiarmid throws in an "ooh-wee-ooh" and a "ding-dada-ding-dada-ding-ding-bum-bum" that are reminiscent of the Beach Boys.

The band takes its cues from other great bands, such as Ween, Guided by Voices and Wire.

Listening to the Rubber Traits EP once only takes 11 minutes out of your life, but there is no way the release will be leaving your CD player for months.