PJ Harvey's Newest Proves She's Still the Queen

Austin Chronicle | July 9, 2004

PJ Harvey

Uh Huh Her (Island)

Four years after PJ Harvey illustrated Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, her voice growls with unbelievable ferocity. Still, she wears a coat of armor to cover her soft core. Still, she teaches that femininity and masculinity are often interchangeable. Still, she sings about love while humping a guitar. Uh Huh Her is a lesson in contentment, anger, disappointment, and independence. Seductive psychosis and classic PJ Harvey. "Baby, you got a bad, bad mouth," Polly scolds to open "The Life & Death of Mr. Badmouth," denouncing lies and condescension while her trademark crunchy, guttural riffs keep time and mood constant. Uh Huh Her is angry, but it’s still a familiar book of love and loss, victimization and ignorance. Latin influences ("Shame") and antique ballads ("Pocket Knife") are balanced by the primal "Who the Fuck" and the erotic "The Letter" ("Put the pen to the paper, press the envelope with my scent"). "The Slow Drug" binds the mood of the whole, a simple and enticing gothic glimpse into the artist. More mature than "Down by the Water," "Drug" entrances with simplicity and beauty. This is why PJ Harvey is a necessity. Throughout grunge and post-punk and the electroclash revival, she’s remained. With the exception of the embarrassing "Cat on the Wall," Uh Huh Her is an apt representation of why PJ Harvey is a superhero.

*** – Darcie Stevens

Tags: PJ Harvey, Polly's Still Got It, Uh Huh Her

Austin Chronicle

Austin, Texas is a distinctively vital, creative, and diverse community in the heart of the Lone Star State, a place where politics, arts, and culture are as elemental as air, water, and the big Texas sky The Austin Chronicle is...

Contact for Reprint Rights

Market Served: Metropolitan Area
Address: P.O. Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765
Phone: (512) 454-5766

www.austinchronicle.com

More by Darcie Stevens

Spoon's 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga'new

Spoon's sixth LP beams with decades of research and development by one Britt Daniel.

Austin Chronicle | Darcie Stevens | 07-16-2007 | Reviews

Tags: Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's 'Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo'new

Flow and connectivity: two things Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (Mars Volta, At the Drive-In) fails to supply.

Austin Chronicle | Darcie Stevens | 07-16-2007 | Reviews

Tags: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo

Safe Crackingnew

Longtime screenwriter and first-time director Scott Frank talks about The Lookout.

Austin Chronicle | Darcie Stevens | 03-30-2007 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: The Lookout

More by Darcie Stevens »

More by Austin Chronicle

Sam Beam Spills Some Iron & Winenew

From the first notes of The Shepherd's Dog's "Boy With a Coin," it's clear that songwriter's songwriter and Texas transplant Sam Beam is no longer content to be classified as just another bedroom recording artist.

Austin Chronicle | Dan Oko | 09-27-2007 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: &, Beam, dog, Iron, Iron & Wine, Sam, Shepherd's, The Shepherd's Dog, wine, the