Um, Uh Oh - Say Hi
  • Band Name: Say Hi
  • Record Label: Barsuk
  • Release Date: Jan 25, 2011
Um, Uh Oh Image
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critics What's this?

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • Summary: The band, previously known as Say Hi To Your Mom, releases its seventh album.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Alternative Press
    Mar 22, 2011
    80
    There's more energy on Um, Uh Oh than in Say Hi's entire back catalog, creating wonderful tension with the songs' downcast sentiments. [Feb 2011, p.89]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Austin Chronicle
    Mar 17, 2011
    78
    There's growth here even amid the stumbles, Elbogen realizing with closer "Bruises To Prove It" that black and blue are "still better than a torn-up heart."
  3. Paste Magazine
    Mar 11, 2011
    71
    As far as songs are concerned,Um, Uh Oh is pretty much business as usual, which is to say it's full of songs neither revelatory nor skippable. The tracks are raw, stripped-down, and crisp, embracing his newfound production polish with aplomb.
  4. PopMatters
    Mar 11, 2011
    70
    By letting the darkness shine in and learning to laugh in the face of potential failure, Eric Elbogen has taken a significant step creatively.

See all 6 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Steech
    10
    So apparently the key to bringing a one-man band onto a level playing field with a real, live band is learning to actually play the drums. Using analog tape instead of a Mac is probably helpful too. In addition to making the music feel more organic, I suppose it makes one play more intuitively and less antiseptically. It's easy to be judgmental and presume "growing up" is also a valuable factor. But "growing up" is such a subjective idea. I can't be sure there's even such a thing, really. Eric Elbogen says in the liner notes to Um, Uh Oh, "(This album) is not about vampires, the artificially intelligent, or other fictitious (?) creatures." And it's good that none of these songs are about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or whatever. "There's not not any wood wood left for the fire fire" is a better lyric than "She bites through necks like Ginsu" when you analyze it - though it lacks the initial punch. That may mean Say Hi is growing up - or it could just mean the priorities are in motion. Today's Say Hi sounds more like the Boss or Tom Waits than the mythological, Platonic synth pop of Impeccable Blahs. As such, it has much wider appeal and lasting power. It may never have been fair to marginalize Say Hi To Your Mom as a "joke" band - but a bunch of songs inspired by Anne Rice and recorded in a bedroom left Mr. Elbogen wide open to the subjectivity of a fickle field of critics. Now, when he says in an interview that he was profoundly inspired by David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest the music will provide support for his intellectual heft. Um, Uh Oh is an intellectually hefty record disguised as a whimsical blues rock/Americana project.… Expand

Current Music Releases

Full List »
  1. Rumours [35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] - Fleetwood Mac
    Metascore: 99
  2. Sunbather - Deafheaven
    Metascore: 97
  3. Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 2 - Miles Davis Quintet
    Metascore: 92
  4. Jama Ko - Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
    Metascore: 90
  5. Southeastern - Jason Isbell
    Metascore: 90
  6. Like a Rose - Ashley Monroe
    Metascore: 89
  7. Same Trailer Different Park - Kacey Musgraves
    Metascore: 88
  8. Your Turn - Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
    Metascore: 88
  9. The Graceless Age - John Murry
    Metascore: 88
  10. Minute by Minute - The James Hunter Six
    Metascore: 88
  11. M B V - My Bloody Valentine
    Metascore: 87
  12. Acid Rap - Chance the Rapper
    Metascore: 87
  13. Yeezus - Kanye West
    Metascore: 87
  14. Beautiful Africa - Rokia Traoré
    Metascore: 87
  15. Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
    Metascore: 87
  16. LSXX [Last Splash: 20th Anniversary Edition] - The Breeders
    Metascore: 87
  17. Annie Up - Pistol Annies
    Metascore: 87
  18. Without a Net - Wayne Shorter
    Metascore: 86
  19. Once I Was an Eagle - Laura Marling
    Metascore: 86
All Current Music »