by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Iowa’s Why Bother? have been ripping and rolling with a barrage of near constant new releases since they first emerged back in 2021. In just a few years the band has amassed six full length albums and a pair of singles, a band as prolific as they are restless. Much like their home at Feel It Records (Choncy, The Follies, Grazia), Why Bother? can’t be stopped, and they’ve been scratching at all the itches, expanding their mutant boogie from the lo-fi post-punk shadows to the hiss of warbling synth punk and beyond. It’s been nearly five months since their last album (the sci-fi crusted rock ‘n’ roll adventure that was Calling All Goons) so naturally the Mason City based quartet are getting ready to release a new album, Serenading Unwanted Ballads, due out March 22nd. Where the space-age fuzz of their last album seemed to permeate much of the recordings, their latest is primarily split between balls-to-wall grooves and reverberating romanticism, though in true Why Bother? form the record acts as a sonic grab bag of ideas and landscapes.
“Some Don’t Dance,” the album’s lead single is a kinetic ripper, pulsating with a wild synth punk energy that veers between evil and exuberance. A quasi industrial dirge sort of warps its way into a motorik boogie, heavy on the psychedelics and cosmic sprawl, the song wandering away from its verses with a nervous energy. There’s a racket to it all, awash in the tense scream of the synths and the sharp twitch of the hi-hats. It’s a song about exactly what it would seem, people who don’t dance, an observation the band doesn’t take kindly too, so next time you see Why Bother?, get ready to move, the dance floor is open.
Speaking about song, the band shared:
“This track is about all of you boring twats that go to shows and just stand there, (staring at the band) with a stupid smile on your face while the band is playing. This goes for all of you bobblehead bozos as well. Go back to the nursing home that you came from, sit in your wheelchair and wait for the lights to go out. I've seen and felt more excitement from the audience participation at my local movie theater than some of these so-called underground punk rock shows.......on a side note, this song was recorded with microphones, magnets, chemicals and tape."