ILLINOIS “What The Hell Do I Know?”
With the title of their debut EP for Ace Fu, Pennsylvania’s ILLINOIS beg the question, “What the hell do I know?” For starters, I would say that they know a lot about everything that falls under the indie rock genre tag. In a matter of twenty-minutes or so, the quartet manages to pump out seven songs that sound nothing alike. Sure, there are a few similarities to be heard here and there, but for the most part, each song takes off in its own uniquely quirky direction. For example, the opener sounds like many Pitchforkian bands as it’s a mellowing tune with subdued instrumentation and weird vocal distortions. As soon as this one ends, ILLINOIS somehow writes a great folky track called “Nosebleed” before jumping into the world of baroque pop with “What Can I Do For You.” “One On One” finds the band experimenting with wickedly-distorted keyboard hooks, “Screendoor” is a stripped-down tune with alt-country leanings, and “Bad Day” is a spoken-word affair with a hip-hop-esque beat. Needless to say, ILLINOIS cover a ton of indie ground on What The Hell Do I Know?, and they do it all convincingly well.
Ace Fu
