I know, they’re a curious case, but I implore you to forgive the theatrics, Hello Kitty aesthetics, and tendency to name their work things like Dear God, I Hate Myself, because underneath it all is one of the most underestimated bands going. Here, on their newest effort, Xiu Xiu follow suit with Animal Collective and The Dirty Projectors and take that inevitable, full-bodied swing at making a pop record. Although, Jamie and his cohorts harbor a definition of pop structure that’s so flexible it makes Bitte Orca sound like “Party in the USA”, if you listen close enough.
The groups talent for micro-sculpting and composing sounds is often overlooked because of the giddier elements that usually take the foreground. On it’s surface, Dear God is a toy chest pop anthem for the skittish and Zoloft-prescribed, but it’s punctured by the most fevered and inspired passages of atonal explosions, expressionist swells, and twitchy realism that Xiu Xiu have ever neatly blended into the scenery. “Hyunhye’s Theme” expertly weaves autumnal fingerpicking into a herd of deflating synths and ominous feedback, a vibe they tried out on Women As Lovers‘ “Gayle Lynn”. Other interesting recipes include “The Fabrizio Palumbo Retaliation” which pairs a catholic children choir with a Nintendo DS beat, and “Cumberland Gap”, which by contrast is the album’s real oddity, where a strange banjo-led folk song is given the Xiu treatment.
There’s a few great singles too, with choruses so catchy they’d be radio-friendly if they weren’t filled with lyrics about Richard Chase and bulimia. Jamie’s unique brand of ecstatic paranoia translates seamlessly into his new found accessibility. Powered by nervous energy, the album clocks in at barely over a half hour, and not a minute is wasted. There are no pretentious interludes like the ones that plagued earlier releases, just twelve tracks that could each serve equally well as the album’s ambassador. Basically, it’s a Xiu Xiu record, and it’s either gonna warm up to you or not, but I say Dear God is the group in top form, even with the departure of former key member/cousin Caralee McElroy. With our culture’s increasing appetite for experimental approaches to pop music, it’s only a matter of time until this shit gets canonized. Best to just get on board now.
Dear God, I Hate Myself is available February 23rd on Kill Rock Stars.
MP3 :::
Xiu Xiu – Chocolate Makes You Happy
Xiu Xiu – House Sparrow
