I’ve been a loyal servant to Say Hi To Your Mom since I got Numbers & Mumbles for Christmas when I was a 7th grader. I remember spinning that album for about months straight, I remember my shock and awe at the shortening of their name (now Say Hi), I remember anticipating their adorable album art… I also remember shelving the band in my mind as a transitional indie band. I look back on times when I would consider Say Hi as juvenile as … Bright Eyes (Disclaimer: I never liked Bright Eyes. Disclaimer 2: No offence.) When I found out about this new Say Hi release (via an episode of Gossip Girl of all places) I decided I ought to give it a chance, for old times’ sake.
That turned out to be pretty ignorant of me. Um, Uh Oh turns out to be a rather brilliant rock album bridging gaps between cheerful & melancholy, catchy-as-hell & lullaby, and romantic & cynical. The album somehow succeeds at spanning my entire range of human emotions, which is pretty goddamn vast. While overall giving off the impression of dark and moody, you just can’t help but tap your foot and whistle along.
The first track “Dots on Maps” is one of my personal favorites. It’s got an infectious chorus that I find myself singing roughly 6 hours out the day (and I would wager that atleast 40% of my dreaming is set to it.) As Say Hi’s mastermind Eric Elbogen croons “There’s a trigger somewhere let’s pull it/ There’s a trigger somewhere let’s pull it,” romantics’ everywhere knees tremble. Um, Uh Oh’s single, “Devils,” comes up next, churning out a super sexy combination of lyrics and grunts and a throbbing beat. Other essential tracks include “Take Ya’ Dancin’,” and upbeat and adorable dance song and “Bruises To Prove It,” the stripped, dark album closer.
Say Hi delivers again on Um, Uh Oh, almost a decade after the debut Discosadness. This album turned out to be one of my favorite current new releases, and I recommend it to anyone that can feel, well, pretty much any given emotion.
Um, Uh Oh was released by Barsuk on January 25, 2011
Review by Ari Mygatt