WHY? announces new LP, Mumps, etc. due this October
Plus, extended Summer / Fall tour dates announced

MP3: “Sod in the Seed” –

WHY? returns with their first new releases since 2009, the six track Sod in the Seed EP out August 14 in North America on Anticon / Aug. 13 in Europe on City Slang and a new LP Mumps, Etc. to follow on Oct. 8/9. The trio heads out on a national tour with Anticon labelmates Serengeti, Doseone, Jel, Sodapop, and others. Listen to the title track from the EP (which also appears on the LP) now.

Mumps, etc. was made. Far from their native Cincinnati, the fellas spent a month and a half in the Denton, Texas, studio of Centro-Matic’s Matt Pence. They showed up with a pile of demos suspected to be nearly done-some five years in the making-but their aspirations evolved in the shadow of the great University of North Texas music school. Reaching out to a professor therein, they wrangled an ace crew of green-and-white gunslingers to exact their wild schemes: a string quartet, an eight-person choir, woodwinds, horns. The whole set was recorded to two-inch tape (no loops), produced by the Wolf brothers, and mixed in Atlanta by Graham Marsh (Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry) with Yoni. Thus every song pops exactly as it should, smearing genre with pointed intent until the end result became an articulated work of unusual artistry and catchiness-a WHY? record, naturally.

We’re not here to tell you what to like; the highlights are many. There’s the opener “Jonathan’s Hope,” rattling forth over a pile of cooing ladies and crunching percussion, its measured optimism levelled at the songs that follow. There’s “Waterlines,” which folds idyllic harps figures into a darkly shimmering beat while Yoni drops backwards brags-“Rocking soccer socks with sandals like, ‘Yeah, bro.'”-and dissects his public persona. “White English” bounces over some kind of mutant mariachi dub, a continuation of the coiled grooves WHY? devised for Serengeti’s Family & Friends (2011). “Thirst” bends Mumps’ spare chamber-pop into a desert-worthy drawl, bullwhips cracking and spurs jingling under a tale about black cowboys and failing faith. And “Kevin’s Cancer”-written for an afflicted fan-hits upon a moment of WHY?-style clarity: “I know with no uncertainty, that I’m uncertain and I don’t know.”

08.24 Columbia, MO: The Blue Note
08.25 Norman, OK: Opolis
08.26 Santa Fe, NM: SOL at Santa Fe Brewing
08.27 Phoenix, AZ: Crescent Ballroom
08.28 Los Angeles, CA: Echoplex
08.30 San Francisco, CA: Great American Music Hall
08.31 Arcata, CA: Arcata Playhouse
09.01 Portland, OR: Wonder Ballroom
09.02 Seattle, WA: Bumbershoot Festival
09.03 Boise, ID: Reef
09.04 Salt Lake City, UT: In the Venue
09.05 Englewood, CO: The Gothic
09.06 Omaha, NE: The Waiting Room
09.07 Lawrence, KS: The Granada
09.08 Minneapolis, MN: Cedar Cultural Center
09.09 Chicago, IL: Lincoln Hall
09.10 Cleveland, OH: Beachland Ballroom
09.11 Ithaca, NY: The Haunt
09.12 Cambridge, MA: Middle East
09.13 Brooklyn, NY: Music Hall of Williamsburg
09.14 Philadelphia, PA: Union Transfer
09.15 Durham, NC: Motorco Music Hall
09.16 Asheville, NC: Grey Eagle
09.17 Atlanta, GA: The Earl
09.18 Nashville, TN: Mercy Lounge
10.05 Düsseldorf, Germany: New Fall Festival
10.06 Evreux, France: L’Abordage
10.07 Paris, France: Maroquinerie
10.08 Brighton, England: Old Market
10.09 London, England: Electric Ballroom
10.10 Manchester, England: Central Methodist Church
10.11 Bristol, England: Fleece
10.12 Glasgow, Scotland: SWG3
10.13 Oxford, England: The Bullingdon
10.15 Berlin, Germany: Volksbühne
10.18 Cincinnati, OH Lois & Richard Rosethal Center for Contemporary Art Black Box Theatre
10.20 Pittsburgh, PA Altar
10.24 Richmond, VA Canal Club
10.25 Athens, GA 40 Watt
10.26 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
10.27 Orlando, FL The Social
10.28 Tampa, FL Crowbar
10.29 Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder
10.30 Mobile, AL Alabama Music Box
10.31 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
11.01 Houston, TX Walter’s
11.02 Dallas, TX Sons of Hermann Hall
11.03 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest
11.05 St. Louis, MO Luminary Arts
WHY?
Mumps, etc.
(Anticon / City Slang)
Street Date: Oct. 9 (US) / Oct. 8 (Europe)

Jonathan’s Hope
Strawberries
Waterlines
Thirteen on High
White English
Danny
Sod in the Seed
Distance
Thirst
Kevin’s Cancer
Bitter Thoughts
Paper Hearts
As a Card

WHY?
Sod in the Seed EP
(Anticon / City Slang)
Street Date: August 14 (US) / August 13 (Europe)

Tracklist:
1. Sod In The Seed
2. For Someone
3. The Plan
4. Probably Cause
5. Twenty Seven
6. Shag Carpet

WHY? LINKS:

Official site – http://whywithaquestionmark.com/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/whyanticon

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/whywithaquestionmark