Elephant Eyelash

Elephant Eyelash
Studio album by
Why?
ReleasedSeptember 26, 2005 (2005-09-26)
GenreIndie rock
Length41:02
LabelAnticon
Producer
Why? chronology
Sanddollars
(2005) 		Elephant Eyelash
(2005) 		Rubber Traits EP
(2006)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Cokemachineglow68/100[3]
Exclaim!favorable[4]
Pitchfork7.8/10[5]
PopMatters[6]
Stylus MagazineD[7]

Elephant Eyelash is the second studio album by American band Why?. It was released by Anticon on September 26, 2005.[8] Prior to the formation of the band in 2004, Yoni Wolf had used "Why?" as his stage name for his solo work. At the release of the album, most considered this the debut Why? album; however in later years, the band counted Oaklandazulasylum as their debut album.[9]

The title refers to an erection.[10] Why? said: "An 'elephant eyelash' is a hard-on. I like to make my own pantheon of slang. Isn't having a hard-on kind of vulnerable? It's an anticipation."[10]

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Elephant Eyelash received an average score of 76% based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]

Josh Berquist of PopMatters gave the album 8 stars out of 10, calling it "one of the best records released this year."[6]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Crushed Bones"3:30
2."Yo Yo Bye Bye"2:51
3."Rubber Traits"4:01
4."The Hoofs"1:57
5."Fall Saddles"2:44
6."Gemini (Birthday Song)"5:28
7."Waterfalls"2:50
8."Sanddollars"3:44
9."Speech Bubbles"2:57
10."Whispers into the Other"3:28
11."Act Five"3:20
12."Light Leaves"4:10

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

  • Yoni Wolf – music, production, recording, artwork
  • Josiah Wolf – music, production, recording
  • Doug McDiarmid – music
  • Matt Meldon – music
  • Anna Stewart – additional vocals (3)
  • John Ringhoffer – trombone (5)
  • Dee Kesler – violin (5)
  • Doseone – additional vocals (6, 8)
  • Jel – drum programming (9)
  • Brian Wilson – additional vocals (10)
  • Colin Guthrie – recording (1, 12)
  • Jud Lee – recording (1, 12)
  • Mike Walti – recording (1, 12)
  • Tony Espinoza – mixing
  • Brian Gardner – mastering
  • Odd Nosdam – layout

References

  1. ^ a b "Elephant Eyelash by Why?". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Hoffman, K. Ross. "Elephant Eyelash - Why?". AllMusic. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  3. ^ Greenwald, David (November 8, 2005). "Why?: Elephant Eyelash". Cokemachineglow. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  4. ^ Lindsay, Cam (December 1, 2005). "Why? - Elephant Eyelash". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Dahlen, Chris (October 10, 2005). "WHY?: Elephant Eyelash". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Berquist, Josh (October 5, 2005). "Why?: Elephant Eyelash". PopMatters. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  7. ^ White, Ethan (November 9, 2005). "Why? - Elephant Eyelash". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  8. ^ "Elephant Eyelash". Anticon. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  9. ^ "WHY? announce their eighth full-length album, The Well I Fell Into". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  10. ^ a b Weingarten, Christopher R. "So, WHY?... What's This Song About?". CMJ New Music Monthly (135): 11.