Xiu Xiu - 'Women As Lovers' (Kill Rock Stars) Released 28/01/08

No let up in the schpookier sides of life Xiu Xiu (pronounced shoo-shoo) continue to address, and look no further than the album cover of the trussed-up blurry photo of a woman in bondage for the themes relating to 'Women As Lovers'. Death and horror figure in a menacing and murky world with eerie abstrakt arrangements from non-complimentary pairings of ambient noise, metal-distortion, anti-folk, post-punk and traditional acoustic. Xui Xui have carved out a name for having dealt with the morose topics of war, suicide, AIDS and taboo experiences, and here Xiu Xiu utilise vox, synths, vibraphone, kalimba, harmonium with cacophonous percussion, loops and divergent (read - a fair bit of caterwauling) vocal styles on a patchwork of obscure lyrics. Based in San Jose, California, Xiu Xiu is the work of singer/songwriter Jamie Stewart and many what's become the live band, and could easily be conceived as the darker side of Scott Walker or Animal Collective on a
bum trip.

The experimental tone is set with the opener 'I Do Not Want, When I Want' that has an approachability in its' strange musicality, with the abstract lyricism - "...you ask unhurried by doom/ the shot only bursts forth heat..." stirring within, 'FTW' exploring acoustic with distortion as an animal is slayed by a car, whilst 'No Friend Oh!' looks to their inspiration with a tune sounding like The Cure addressing gay secrecy and shame, and a cracking version of Bowie and Queens 'Under Pressure' is nestled like a welcome bowl of soup.

Darker sonics feature on the whine and noise-rock clash with a rash of 'In Lust You Can Here The Axe Fall' with it's talk of fetish guilt and "...crush a pastry into your breast..." [and why not], whilst a dark song features beneath the acoustic calm of 'Black Keyboard' as transgressive sex, poor parental boundaries and madness are wrestled with - "Why would a mother say such things?/ why add tongue to kiss goodnight...hold me mommy face down in your filth/ why would you tell/ how many times that my father made you cream?..." makes for an unflinching glance into hell. A bad trip on 'The Leash' as death and Greek mythology stir in a 60's whirl with xylo-pipes, and 'Child At Arms' forms a hellish noise barrage of strange and maddening whistling from double reed flute, cop whistle and bottle rockets, and the dark song of children fighting wars - "...the rifle is heavy beyond compassion...".

Discordant sonics somehow pull it off on what would work better on screen with 'Guantanamo Canto' which uses siren and snare rolls to bring in military elements as Jamie sings "...confess/ tied to a stretcher/ no longer animal...", and 'You Are Pregnant, You Are Dead' is joined on vocals by Caralee McElroy for an Animal Collective knockabout from competing instruments of vox, boshed drum, and the hyunhye seo-bleeping [anyone?]. 'White Nerd' is a clever take on the failed potential of the white nerd set to a bit of noise rock and wacky lyrics - "...oh you could have been the 13 of spades/ destroyer of the jerk off of hearts...", wait, and there's more - "...oh you could have been a Modoc..."!!!!!!!

Despite the discordant elements that Xiu Xiu utilise and relish, no one can deny their exploratory bent in chioice of instruments to deliver their sonic pastiche and visions of hell - making good use of the hyunhye seo-bleeping - just what every band needs to bolster obscurity!. Not much drive time music here folks! A disconcerting listen all in all that fails to flinch at the horror of existence.