I meant to have this out sooner, but school interfered.
To start out, I’d like to give a mini review of the the EP released previous to the album.
I absolutely loved I See Red. I usually dislike electronic music. I usually dislike pop. Perhaps the combination of the two is why I like I See Red. (I rather doubt this though…). Seriously, I liked the EP because of it’s ‘basement productiony’ sound – of course, this was actually the case (it was recorded in a bedroom), although it was mixed by a third person in a studio. Still, the fingerprints of two people in a bedroom are obvious, with the production causing it to still sound clean and neat. This twofold element of the EP makes it unique. Most ‘basement music’ sounds rough, raw, and often noisy and messy. Electronic music is usually slickly produced and often mechanical. While both can be good, the combination of the two managed to retain the raw emotion of the material while making it slick and clean. This was the appeal of I See Red.
Now, onto Common Reaction:
With I See Red in mind, I was looking forward to the new album. I saw the video for the first track, ‘Not a Love Song’ and loved it. But when I heard the whole album for the first time on the MTV website, I felt rather … disappointed.
I couldn’t really put my finger on the problem at first. I purchased the album anyway, and still didn’t like it. At some point I realized my problem with it – the ‘bedroom recording’ sound is gone. I feel like it is still there in ‘Not A Love Song’, perhaps a bit in ‘Common Reaction’, and missing entirely from the rest of the album. Most of the album is essentially straight-up pop. My problem was really one of expectation, I suppose. Apparently, this was the intention of the band (Leisha Hailey said that the record company was pleasantly surprised at how mainstream popish it sounded). Still, Common Reaction, is quite wonderful for pop music – once I realized that the bedroom studio sound was not supposed to be there, and began to listen without expectation, the album became quite enjoyable.
Now, for annoying analysis.
1: ‘Not A Love Song’
The best song on the album, hands down. It begins with a bass riff that continues in one form or another throughout the song, while buzzy sound synths provide a contrast to the voices. The result is a sort of instrumental ‘wall of sound’ effect. It is fitting that the song is the first track, as it represents the cumulation of the sound began on the EP. The music has become muddied to the point that the vocals stand out in relief, while the slurred words and hissing s’s of the vocals give it unique, interesting sound. Also, the unicorns on the video are a nice touch (whatever they may mean).
2: ‘Wait another day’
Yet-Another-I’ll-Wait-For-You-Forever-Song. The break with previous material is immediately apparent. The tempo is a bit slower then any other song, and the vocals contain melismata* as a part of the melody (the relevant lyric is “feels so ri—ght, and it *doesn’t* sound right!). This song is a bit boring – the constant “thump, thump, thump” of the bass drum and the rapid xylophoneish synth riff are rather hypnotic – but it is still entertaining.
3: Explode – And, we’re back to basement land with a song from the EP.
4: ‘Common Reaction’
Possibly the deepest song on the album. The lyrics are … odd. (“How can you fall from a wound like that dear?” or “I don’t like quiet in the rain with you” ?? – I’m terrible at interpreting lyrics, though…) The feeling of the song is half sad, half bored, half desperate. The singer seems to be rejecting her lover, and is surprised that he/she doesn’t seem to mind or notice. Or perhaps not. In any case, the line “you’re covered in dust, yeah, you’re covered in dust” is beautiful in the extreme – a sort of sigh in song. The piano complements the vocals perfectly, creating a sort of otherworldly ‘journey into my brain’ kind of feel. Quite wonderful and relaxing, while simultaneously a little disturbing.
5: ‘Say So’ – now with an added guitar! As much as I feel like they should not have re-released this, tracks (3,4,5) do go well together.
6: ‘Covered’
And now we’re off the deep end – well, sort of. The bass thump from ‘Wait another day’ is back. The song seems more heavily produced – the guitars are less prominent, and there is a constant harmony throughout. The line line “hey, hey whatcha know”, etc. seems to be almost an attempt at a catchy melodic figure to sing along with. It could almost be cheesy and shallow, but – and this is big – the song is almost opposite this. The minor key, and the semi-depressing it’s-not-love-it’s-just-sex subject matter contrast the feel of the music. The result is quite interesting, but too many songs in this style could get annoying.
7: ‘Everyone’
A slow song about belief in .. anything. Synth drums make an appearance in this song – something we haven’t seen yet. Other synth’s feature again, although they are quite tasteful. The singing is more pop-like than before, with space between the words and more breath noise, although after the first verse and chorus, the drums return to acoustic, and the singing style reverts back to normal. The ending is thus better than the beginning, but overall it is fairly poor. Perhaps this is the point – the lack of belief mentioned at the beginning matches the awkward music.
8: ‘Away From Here’
More synth drums. The style is almost identical to the previous track, but the singing starts out UHH style and stays there. The song again loses the synth drums by the end. This song is better than the previous one, but both are rather flat compared to the others.
9: ‘So Long’ and 10: ‘Dance With Me’
The next two songs are really more rock than electro-pop. ‘So Long’ contains no audible electronic instruments, and ‘Dance With Me’ has only one small synth part. The singing, unfortunately, is still pop style, and the result was an imperfect combination. Still, the instrumentals were a welcome change of pace (I checked my mp3 player at the beginning of ‘So Long’ to make sure that a riotgirrl/grunge song didn’t get mixed in the playlist by mistake – it had that early 90’s Seattle sound for two seconds!) With just a tiny bit of tweaking the sound, some wonderful sounds could be produced, so hopefully UHH will continue developing this direction.
11: ‘Dreamer’
The final track on the album is a piano ballad sort of song. Melismata and general oooing are everywhere. I did not like this song, but I dislike ballads in general, so I am not a good judge.
Common Reaction, though a bit too pop for my taste, is still quite excellent. The wonderful singing of Camila Grey is here in full force, and the two rockish songs represent an interesting variation, which will hopefully continue. The influence of the recording studio environment is obvious – but Uh Huh Her still makes amazing music.
Note:
* melismata are notes that are sung over a single syllable. Previous UHH songs only had melismata in transitional contexts – and only rarely then – but never as part of the primary melody.