by Aly Eleanor (@purityolympics)
Nearly every Whelpwisher release on Bandcamp contains some version of the phrase “All sound(s) (by) Ben Grigg” in their description. Upon listening to any of his songs, it bears clarifying that this is a one-man studio band, not a power pop outfit beamed in from any of the last four decades. The Chicago multi-instrumentalist and patent-wielding acoustical engineer has been periodically dropping bundles of songs for years — EPs and albums’ worth of material, often born of song-a-day challenges set by and for Grigg himself. The latest transmission from Whelpwisher, Same Mistakes, bears all of the project’s hallmarks, honed down to the beautiful essentials.
Written and recorded in December 2024, one track per day, Same Mistakes sees no need to bury technical skill beneath complexity. Grigg is a songwriter who can seemingly churn out effervescent rock songs in his sleep; with nearly a decade of music and bands (Future Biff, FCKR JR, Babe Report) behind him, there is a remarkable logic to how his songs flicker with variation while keeping the core fundamentals strong. Perhaps rule number one of pop music in all of its permutations, every melody has to stick. On Whelpwisher albums, immediacy is a power greater than density, and Grigg’s layers of vocals and guitars cross-hatch memorability across your brain as you listen.
Same Mistakes is less wiry or than 2020’s Gang of Four-indebted New Brilliant Polygons, and less wistful and foxy than 2021’s Eerie Dearie. Grigg presents 12 new songs, proclaiming “Here they are, warts and all.” The warts aren’t quite audible; if anything, they blend into the charming, ramshackle rush of the album. There is a mild sense of déjà vu by the latter half, more sonic sameness than true fatigue. The more uptempo tracks, like “Green Eggs” and “The Biggest Diggy,” are far from unenjoyable, especially amidst such a sprint of a record, but they, well, feel like B-sides. They would fit perfectly as the flipsides of the “Same Mistakes” and “Strange Powers” 7” records. In the context of a front-to-back listen, they seem quite ordinary.
The skillful routine of Grigg’s “first idea, best idea” approach to putting out bodies of Whelpwisher songs still leaves room for variety and plenty of charm. “Nullset” is full of space, with pretty vocals soaring over miasmic guitars, and “Halo” is grimace-inducing in the best way, revitalizing a sludgy car commercial riff into the basis for a song that jumps between verse and chorus with visible but unaffected seams. The initial three-song run on Same Mistakes is a perfect microcosm of the album: three fantastic songs, three minutes, dozens of hooks packed into vocal strata, and plenty of guitars. Whelpwisher has provided enough abundance during the project’s lengthy tenure, like Chicago fuzz-pop Santa leaving songs at your front door. Same Mistakes is just the latest gift to arrive.