Nothing seems to come easy for Raleigh punk contortionists Whatever Brains. Of course, there are certain risks you take when you decide to make music as bizarre and adventurous as they do, but at a time when insiders are using outsider music to boost their cred, a band of this caliber should be reaching more ears. And yet, life always finds a way to intervene. The day after heading back into the studio, their bass player quit, leaving Whatever Brains with a four month long recording process that, as frontman Rich Ivey puts it, was "very long, very tedious, very frustrating."
But things are looking up. Last spring, Detroit's own Protomartyr brought Whatever Brains along for a leg of their North American tour, and despite the arduous sessions back in their Raleigh practice space (rumor has it that it used to be the city morgue), the band not only managed to knock out a new EP (self-titled, as always), but a single, 22 minute track rock opera titled ///////. Ivey thinks the EP is the best material the band has released yet, and we have the grinding, seasick "NY Dodger" from it here for you today. Look out for both on Sorry State Records next month.Read our interview with Whatever Brains.
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