'Happy' by Why?

My first experience of Why? was at my first Soul Survivor. I knew of them, and was interested enough to see them play. The following day I gathered up as much back catalogue as possible. Their charm as a live band was infectious, and the recordings did a reasonably good job of matching up to this. A few years later, the band played at Spring Harvest. A lot had changed since then. They'd always had a fluid line up, but their basic instrumental mix of guitar-bass-mandolin-fiddle-drums had always remained constant. Then Nick Parker, co-founder and joint lead vocalist, left the band with his mandolin. The band that remained didn't replace him, and swapped violin for keyboard. Their Spring Harvest gigs that year were the sound of a band re-working their identity. The new recording on 'Look Back', the best of that they were selling at the time, were not career highlights, so 'Happy' really could have gone either way.

Fortunately, 'Happy' was the sound of a band carving out a new sound, and doing so very well. Ant Parker proved more than capable of leading the band on his own. His lyrics throughout 'Happy' were full of wit and imagination, and the musicians around him were probably the best line up Why had ever had. The album was produced by Craig McLeish who, as a member of Fat and Frantic, knew a few things about making music like this.

So, the songs roll out in an ongoing wave of cheerfulness, and even the weaker moments are covered by an overall sense of charm. Only the rap in 'Not Enough Room' is a genuine mistake. 'Think Yourself' and 'Spit' are on the edge of being a little too earnest for their own good, but the latter is redeemed by it's rhythmical trickery, and the former is saved by the audacity of rhyming 'perm an' all' with 'terminal' - surely a first.

The album essentially ends with 'Rock Idols of the 21st Century' - a tongue in cheek anthem which sets out their mission statement for the future. Sadly, the point was somewhat undermined by the band breaking up soon after - Ant Parker left, and that was that.

Except it wasn't - the last time I saw Why live was at Greenbelt soon afterwards. Astonishingly, even after losing both frontmen the band kept going. The result wasn't pretty - though once the remaining members ditched the name and reinvented themselves as a completely different plan, they did pretty well. Not the same, though.

'Giggle' by Why?

It was with a certain amount of trepidation I listened to this. As a teenager, I loved Why?, but I found it hard to believe that affection would be unchanged. As a result, this was a very pleasant surprise.

Musically, this is better than you might think. It’s played well, and the production is fairly good (though at times, the violin dominates like a buzz saw). There are also inventive flourishes throughout the album – unexpected shifts in tempo and key which generally work very well. The album’s vocal duties are shared by Ant and Nick Parker, and they complement each other well. Ant’s vocals are warmer, Nick’s are perhaps more ambitious, but with a certain degree of tongue in cheek.

Lyrically, the album is a curious mix. A deliberate amount of nonsense is on show, but the band were never afraid to display their faith openly, either through serious references to God, or in-jokes – you have to love a band who start a song with the line ‘every year, Steve Chalke brings out a video’.

Throughout it all, there’s a sense of fun and enjoyment that you can’t help but be sucked in by, even if that comes despite your better judgement.