LINDA PUGA
campus editor
The Los Angeles-based band Why Don’t We dropped their second studio album after leaving fans guessing when they took a nine-month hiatus from social media at the start of 2020. The 10-track project, “The Good Times and the Bad Ones,” climbed up on the iTunes charts and became the No. 1 best selling album in pure sales in the country the week after its release.
The album starts with “Fallin’ (Adrenaline),’’ the first single released following the band’s break. The track lays a solid foundation for the sound listeners can expect in the rest of the project.
The lead song has heavy drums that kick-start the feeling of an adrenaline rush. The catchy production immediately draws attention, coupled with scattered high notes that showcase immense vocal development from previous bodies of work.
Things “Slow Down” on track two with less intense production while still keeping the classic drum and guitar combination, creating a song perfect for a Saturday night out with friends. The band reminisces the importance of living life to the fullest and incorporates a fun play on words with the phrases, “California ‘cation,” “We took a shot at this but maybe we’re too wasted’’ and “It’s hard to swallow but I know we gotta chase it.”
“Be Myself” starts a new wave of sound in the album with a stripped-back production. The lyrics were written by Daniel Seavey after watching bandmate Jack Avery’s encounter and hardship with anxiety.
The song is beautifully written as it showcases the struggle of overthinking and contains a message listeners can have a heart to heart with: “We’re dancing on the edge of anxiety’s ledge and I might fall again, we’re walking on a rope of worry and I hope that I don’t fall again.”
The band slows things down and listeners are left feeling “Grey” with the second mellow track on the album. This completely stripped-back song leaves room for effortless runs, the sole use of a grand piano and an immaculate chorus with Avery’s vocals. The power ballad describes the feeling of being in the wrong of a relationship and recognizing that hurt, ending beautifully with a fade-out of strings.
A sample of Heath Ledger’s laugh as the iconic Joker character starts off the sultry track “Look At Me.” As the shortest song on the album at 1 minute and 59 seconds, it’s the perfect length for the easy flow of verses, a subtle yet mysterious beat and dark undertones throughout.
The sequence of the album takes listeners through the story of a romantic relationship.
Whether the song comes from a realistic or visionary standpoint, the artists express themselves through the music, using each shift in production or vocals as a change in narrative to further connect fans to each track.
Why Don’t We make its mark with its first self-written and produced album. As a collective, these five experimented with production beats, vocal ranges and lyrical content, generating a one-of-a-kind project and an open range of possibilities as to what they have in store for the future.
