Album Review - Xiu Xiu: Always

Xiu Xiu
Always
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

At this point, you kind of know what to expect from a Xiu Xiu record. Jamie Stewart and his revolving cast of band members will provide the requisite harrowing, confessional lyrics meant to shock, the barely contained vocal paranoia, and music that alternately draws one in and also alienates. Of course, over the years, the production values have gotten better and the sound is larger and denser, but the essence of Xiu Xiu remains. The point is that there is nothing really new here that will pull in the unconvinced or chase away the converted. With that noted, however, Always is one of their stronger, most consistent releases, even if it doesn't stand out like Fabulous Muscles or Knife Play. Probably the most striking thing about the album is how much better Xiu Xiu works when Stewart allows the songs to have a more traditional pop sound. Xiu Xiu can do the strident/discordant thing in their sleep, so when you hear them fighting that urge, the sense of tension creates something fresh and new for them.

Opener "Hi" features a surprising electropop feel. The driving beats punctuated by squiggly synths provide the background for Stewart's examination of loneliness and misery.



"Joey's Song," a track about a traumatic time in Stewart's brother's life, is notable for the restraint in the music backing, adopting a gauzy, shoegaze haze.



"Honey Suckle," which is the first Xiu Xiu song not written by Stewart, is a relatively straight-forward pop duet with Angela Seo (who wrote the track). And it is probably the first time anyone can ever say that a Xiu Xiu song is sweet, at least musically. The lyrics of course are mired in despair over the difficulties of every day living.



But it woud not be a Xiu Xiu album without the required electro/industrial/synth freakouts. "I Luv Abortion," a harrowing account of a friend's agonizing decision to have an abortion, has a particularly intense, almost atonal sound.



"Gul Mudin" engages twitchy electronics with spikes of guitars and industrial percussion to comment on an Afghani boy murdered for sport by US Army men.



While "Beauty Towne," an addenda of sorts to the song "Clowne Towne" off of Fabulous Muscles, recalls a time when Stewart lived in a communal house (with Perfume Genius' Mike Hadreas) whose residents all had destructive relationships and lives. The song, a jittery, thumping track, tells of how even though they have moved on from that time, the experiences will always haunt and stay with them.



The remaining songs fall in the middle of these two extremes. "The Oldness" is an impressionistic track led by stark piano, synth strings, and Stewart's gaunt voice.



"Smear the Queen," a duet with Carla Bozulich, whips and slaps odd keyboard noises underneath their dueling vocal tics. The song would not be out of place on a Some Bizarre compilation from the 80s.



And "Chimney's Afire (Mickensian Suicide)" marches to military like drum fills, with a vast array of instrumentation fighting against each other for prominence in the mix.



Always is a solid, if not revolutionary Xiu Xiu album. At this stage in his career, Stewart has almost exhausted the whole "shock for shock's sake" angle he's been doing, and it would be more interesting to see/hear him tone it back into something almost pop. His confessional and blunt lyrics and themes would be ever more subversive.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.