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Serenading Unwanted Ballads is the fifth album from Iowa's WHY BOTHER? and a testament to the fact that they will never make the same record twice. Full of twists, their unique approach to Midwestern synth punk becomes their own sound of Gothadelic, weirdo madness. Several of these tracks make their first vinyl appearance after surfacing on previous E.P.s and singles, while a newer mix of "Some Don't Dance" speaks to the unwavering creativity of the group. "Testify", recorded by friend (and contributing song writer) Aaron, while serving his life sentence at Anamosa State Prison, adds a layer of originality and bleakness to these unwanted ballads. WHY BOTHER? have made yet another album by themselves, for themselves, and for anyone else willing to be serenaded by the doom of what awaits in the shadows. Feel It Records is proud to be the ONLY record label that can offer you such things.
Our take: Serenading Unwanted Ballads is the latest full-length from this punk band from Iowa on Feel It Records, whose 2023 album A City of Unsolved Miseries got a Record of the Week nod at Sorry State. I hesitate to mention how prolific Why Bother? is because it might make you skeptical about the quality of any individual release… how could a band release so much music and have it all be good? However, as with their similarly prolific label-mates the Cowboys and Class, I hear no appreciable dip in quality across their many records. And holy crap, do Why Bother? have a lot of records, having put out at least eight albums since 2021. Not only did A City of Unsolved Miseries arrive barely a year ago, but also there’s an entire album, Calling All Goons, that came out between that and Serenading Unwanted Ballads. I am not privy to Why Bother?’s inner workings, but I’m guessing you can chalk up their quickly growing discography to some combination of these factors: 1. there probably isn’t shit else to do in Mason City, Iowa; 2. Why Bother? doesn’t play live (though there is one track on this album that says it was recorded live), and 3. they have a fucking ton of ideas. The latter is apparent on Serenading Unwanted Ballads, which has a ton of variety. There are tracks that, like many of my favorite Why Bother? songs, sound like gritty punk/pop in the vein of mid-period Husker Du (the opener “Nullity,” the aforementioned live recording of “Frothy Green”). A bunch of others—many of these among the record’s best—sound like post-punk underground pop music, like “Until” with its late 70s Manchester guitar line or the beautiful “High as the Heavens,” which sounds like it could have been in a John Hughes movie. “Your Love Will Die” has a cool 60s-sounding psychedelic surf vibe, while “Some Don’t Dance” is minimal and jittery a la the Urinals. And like any great band, Why Bother? takes these different ideas and runs them through their filter in a way that makes everything sound coherent. If you’re a fan of pop-based but adventurous punk, check out Why Bother? Don’t let their discography intimidate you… dive in here, and if you like it, sleep comfortably knowing there’s plenty more to hear.