Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe has been obliterated by a nuclear disaster, and it can only be reported in a refined Dr. Seuss prose. Why?’s Alopecia is the Neighborhood’s emergency news report, countering evocations of existential fear with whimsical instrumentation and rhyme. Though a post-apocalyptic world, the aftermath is sensationally pleasing. Jingling bells and crystalline piano lines in “Song of the Sad Assassin” drift like twinkling clouds of pulverized glass. Yoni Wolf’s nasal recitative pushes through the haze as he rap-sings a bleak, self-referential verse – “I’ll suck the marrow out and rape your hollow bones Yoni.” But toyish melodies confuse it all. While vocals are dismal, jarringly positive instrumentation accelerates into child-like cheer. Nevertheless, lines loop, and the ostensibly joyful tune asphyxiates, trapped in Sisyphus-like devastation. Elsewhere in Alopecia, blipping ripples of synths color in grey groans –“Looks like a sky for shoeing horses under / looks like a good sky to die under.” Meanwhile, percussion spiritedly collapses on downbeats, as if to encourage such despondency. For such implications, the harmonies are absurdly optimistic; the Neighborhood of Make-Believe dissolved in toxic gas, but look children, everything has a lovely green sheen! Come to the Middle East Downstairs, Monday, July 12, for Why?’s catchy tunes or ominous rhymes, whatever you’d like to make of it.