Back in February we wrote about ‘T.O.C.‘, a single from the Los Angeles-based songwriter Alex Johnson who records under the moniker Why Dogs Why. Offering what we described as a “distinctive balance between sardonic wit and sincere emotion,” the song captured the Why Dogs Why aesthetic with its tongue-in-cheek humour and razor sharp commentary on the banality of contemporary life. “All of the familiar offenders are present,” we wrote:
From the rosy nostalgia and/or existential meltdown courtesy of algorithmic reminders of decade-old events, to general misanthropic rage and a pining for something more straightforward amid the clutter. ‘Don’t want a lot in life, just some kitchen scissors that actually work,’ Johnson sings, ‘don’t want a lot in life, just to learn to be more like Picard than Kirk.’
The song was taken from the EP, Dress Well Enough, which has now been released via Very Jazzed. Consisting of three songs, the EP confronts perceived character defects, with each track focusing on a flaw. With its collection of irritations and burning frustration, ‘T.O.C.’ concentrated on short-temperedness, while the title track turns its attentions to self-consciousness. With a characteristically rich and upbeat style, the song explores the misleading and exhausting business of cultivating a persona through exterior surfaces, and how people are often not what they seem upon first impression.
“In my experience, nobody really knows what they’re doing” Johnson explains, “but if they dress the part and convince everyone else that they do, then they’ll start to believe it themselves.” A process doubly taxing—intended not only to convince strangers but oneself too. “Personally, my confidence (or a lack thereof) often comes as a result of other people’s perceptions of me,” he continues. “This song is about that, and the way that we all do our best to maintain a certain level of control over how we are perceived by others.”
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Final track ‘Tying Knots’ concentrates, or perhaps doesn’t, on inattentiveness. A drifting, regretful track of lost focus, where the cloudiness comes to mimic the sliding attention of the lyrics. One which finds Why Dogs Why at its most melancholic, weighed down by the textures of the track, and Bijan Eghtesady’s drums never quite shaking free of the gauzy shroud.
I heard a sound that wasn’t me –
all focus lost eternally.
I thought a lot about defeat.
I guess I’ll go to bed early,
without me
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Dress Well Enough is out now via Very Jazzed and you can grab it from the Why Dogs Why Bandcamp page.
Album artwork by Sam Mitchell, with additional edits by Ian Joslin