Uh Huh Her preview

Uh Huh Her
Park West, Chicago
Monday, November 3, 2008

Riot grrrls use caution — same to you, jaunty post punk supporters. Cable TV subscribers? Come on down!

Uh Huh Her’s Leisha Hailey is a former cast member on Showtime’s “The ‘L’ Word,” a show that banks on the ambiguity of its title: Love? Loss? Lesbians? But that’s not the only reason why Uh Huh Her have us talking telly. No, a specific “Seinfeld” episode comes to mind, where Jerry dates a Jewish girl from Long Island who has shortened her name to Donna Chang. Hijinks ensue and ultimately Jerry quips, “You know, you’re not Chinese.”

Despite drawing their name from a PJ Harvey song and album title, Uh Huh Her do not shake womanhood to its core through primal rage or 30-something sophistication. Their debut, Common Reaction (Nettwerk), kicks off with “Not A Love Song,” which is not a Public Image Ltd cover. Even digging into the old bands on Hailey’s and Camila Grey’s (Murmurs and Mellowdrone) respective résumés does little to explain the indie pop lacquer containing the 11 tracks. Who are they, really?

Breathy, come-hither voices and synthed-out indie gauze pop atop a rhythm section that’s allowed even fewer risks — it’s hard to call this a vanity project for Hailey because it’s so inconspicuous. Common Reaction‘s lyrics vaguely concern themselves with being and having stupid lovers, yet ignore their own demands to “hollar” (in consecutive songs, in fact). There’s trouble when you can better describe what something isn’t than what it is.

The Fashion open.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly