Common Reaction

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Long story short, I was hanging around in the student center at school where a flat screen television soundlessly flashed images of MTVu. Since I had largely stopped watching MTV more than a decade ago, I was pretty much ignoring it. That is, until I saw a grainy black and white cartoon of an obviously lovesick man trailing a raven-haired beauty down the street. Intrigued, I resolved to listen to the song at home and made note of the band's name—Uh Huh Her.

I had never heard of the group before, and Los Angeles-based Uh Huh Her is a long way off from household name status. Named after PJ Harvey's 2004 album and comprised of Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey of The L Word fame, the duo hooked up just last summer. They released their first full length album, Common Reaction, in August of this year.

Common Reaction isn’t remarkable in the sense that it radically reinterprets electropop. Like much modern electronic music, this album fuses punkish guitars and baselines with piano and strings, then overlays those instruments with synthesized buzzing and whirring. What sucked me in were the reedy yet ethereal vocals of the two women as they sang of love, lust, and righteously angry heartbreak. Uh Huh Her—who alternately channel Shirley Manson, Saffron of Republica, and various '80s rocker girls—chant deliciously ambiguous lyrics throughout. (Exactly what do they mean by “won’t you pay if you wanna go down” and “I want to hurt you easy?”) My absolute favorite tracks on Common Reaction are “Explode” (which was the song in the video I mentioned earlier) and “Dance With Me.” The sugary crooning of the plaintive lyrics and the somewhat ominous droning of the synthesizer makes “Explode” a make out song extraordinaire. This single had my fingers hovering over the “repeat” button for hours. “Dance With Me” had me wanting to do just that; the throbbing base and driving guitar are perfect for drunkenly (or maybe even soberly) boogying away. I found several other singles to be satisfying as well. “I See Red” featured an interesting juxtaposition of a jaunty, pop-rock beat and introspective lyrics about an emotionally unavailable partner. “Say So” is an upbeat rock song about the redemptive power of new love.

The lyrics on the other tracks are a bit clichéd, but so what? Not everyone can be "deep"... nor should they be. A certain number of mindlessly fun albums need to be released each year, just to keep us sane. Uh Huh Her's Common Reaction definitely fits the bill in that regard. Listen to a few of the tracks or view some of their videos on [their MySpace page](http://www.myspace.com/uhhuhhermusic" target="_blank).

Written by: Ebony Edwards-Ellis, December 1st 2008

Modern Love and Death

admin — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:20:00 +0000

By Hail Social

Polyvinyl Records

Philadelphia-based Hail Social has tried, yet again, to capitalize on the dance-rock craze that has made bands like Hot Chip and Franz Ferdinand pop stars and indie rock heroes. Unfortunately, the band’s attempts at hot beats fizzle before they fail to heat up, and Modern Love and Death is a painful trip back to the 1980s.

Beginning with first track “Annabelle,” there’s a Bee Gees sensibility where the ‘70s disco and the singer’s (Dayve Hawke) falsetto seem like it might be impressive. The song is about Annabelle, the bad girl in town who stirs up trouble: “You will never know all the trouble you caused/After you the neighborhood drew up a book of laws.” He’s in love with the girl, and the song comes off cheeky and sentimental — the best of the album, which means it can only go downhill from there.

From track 2 (“Heaven”) on, it’s a bizarre mix of Hall and Oates synth rhythms and lyrics that don’t exactly convey one singular thought throughout. But on tracks like “Heaven,” some self-righteousness slips out: “I’ll bet every night I’m on your mind.”

The cheese factor really kicks in on “All Night,” when Hawk croons: “All night we can listen to the radio!” Even the lyrics are a throwback to a long time ago, when the singer was most likely a kid without an iPod, which is why the album’s title track seems so bizarre in following.

“I am a modern man and I need a modern girl who will understand,” goes “Modern Love and Death.” But if he’s anything like the songs he writes, it will certainly be a challenge to pin down if Hawk has any originality or anything contemporary about him. It’s an ironic title for a song and album that is a rehashing of the 1980s in a way more akin to Olivia Newton John than The Cure.

Written by: Trish Bendix, September 2nd 2007

dance rock

Common Reaction

Modern Love and Death