As previously reported, Berkeley-by-way-of-Cincinnati indie rockers Why? will follow up the August 14th release of their Sod in the Seed EP with their fifth full-length album. Today, the band formally detailed the album: Mumps, etc. will be released on October 9th via Anticon/City Slang.



The 13-track effort was recorded in the Denton, Texas studio of Centro-Matic’s Matt Pence. Taking advantage of the studio’s proximity to University of North Texas, the band teamed enlisted one the school’s professors, who helped wrangle “an ace crew of green-and-white gunslingers to exact their wild schemes: a string quartet, an eight-person choir, woodwinds, horns. The whole set was recorded to two-inch tape (no loops), produced by the Wolf brothers, and mixed in Atlanta by Graham Marsh (Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry) with Yoni. Thus every song pops exactly as it should, smearing genre with pointed intent until the end result became an articulated work of unusual artistry and catchiness-a WHY? record, naturally.”

Below, you can find a stream for the track “Sod in the Seed”, which will appear on both the EP and LP, along with a video featuring behind the scenes footage of the album’s cover shoot, and the band’s upcoming tour schedule.

“Sod in the Seed”:



Mumps, etc. Tracklist:

01. Jonathan’s Hope

02. Strawberries

03. Waterlines

04. Thirteen on High

05. White English

06. Danny

07. Sod in the Seed

08. Distance

09. Thirst

10. Kevin’s Cancer

11. Bitter Thoughts

12. Paper Hearts

13. As a Card

WHY? 2012 Tour Dates:

08/24  Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note *&

08/25  Norman, OK @ Opolis *&

08/26  Santa Fe, NM @ SOL @ Santa Fe Brewing *&

08/27  Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *&

08/28  Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex *#

08/30  San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall ^*#

08/31  Arcata, CA @ Arcata Playhouse *#

09/01  Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *#

09/02  Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival

09/03  Boise, ID @ Reef *%

09/04  Salt Lake City, UT @ In the Venue *%

09/05  Englewood, CO @ The Gothic *%

09/06  Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *%

09/07  Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *%

09/08  Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center ^*%

09/09  Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^*%

09/10  Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom ^*%

09/11  Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt^*+

09/12  Cambridge, MA @ Middle East^*+

09/13  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^*+

09/14  Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^*+

09/15  Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall ^*+

09/16  Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle ^*+

09/17  Atlanta, GA @ The Earl ^*+

09/18  Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge ^*+

10/05  DÃ¼sseldorf, DE @ New Fall Festival

10/06  Evreux, FR @ LAbordage

10/07  Paris, FR @ Maroquinerie

10/08  Brighton, UK @ Old Market

10/09  London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

10/10  Manchester, UK @ Central Methodist Church

10/11  Bristol, UK @ Fleece

10/12  Glasgow, UK @ SWG3

10/13  Oxford, UK @ The Bullingdon

10/15  Berlin, DE @ VolksbÃ¼hne

10/18 – Cincinnati, OH @ Lois & Richard Rosethal Center for Contemporary Art Black Box Theatre

10/20 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar

10/24 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club

10/25 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club

10/26 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits

10/27 – Orlando, FL @ The Social

10/28 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar

10/29 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder

10/30 – Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box

10/31 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon

11/01 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s

11/02 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall

11/03 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

11/05 – St. Louis, MO @ Luminary Arts

* = w/ Serengeti

^ = w/ Doseone

& = w/ DJ Tony Trimm

# = w/ dj sodapop

% = w/ Jel (DJ Set)

+ = w/ DJ Thanksgiving Brown