Why

Anticon Records has built its underground following on artsy and experimental hip-hop, which generally translates into very few diamonds and a lot of rough. Since the label’s inception, Berkeley art-school dropout Yoni Wolf has added his own indie-rock spin to projects such as Greenthink and Clouddead. With a penchant for live instruments and pop hooks, his present four-piece, simply called Why, might be Anticon’s most conventional outfit yet. The group’s second full-length, Elephant Eyelash, offers only subtle nuances of hip-hop, adhering to traditional pop song structures and even the occasional Beach Boys-inspired harmony to back Wolf’s shaky vocals and schizophrenic songwriting. “Yo Yo Bye Bye” and “Light Leaves” are worthy of Flaming Lips and Radiohead comparisons, and songs like “Gemini” and “Sand Dollars” revisit They Might Be Giants’ glory days.