Review: Xiu Xiu

Xiu Xiu
“Famous Muscles”
(5 Rue Christine)

Commonly pronounced “shoe Shoe,” or “show show” like the Joan Chen movie of the same name. It’s folksy, it’s electronic, it’s eclectic, it’s schizophrenic. The music ranges from minimal and acoustic, to caustic and chaotic, but still somehow subdued. Brings to mind some Cex or Adult and the Fitness, but not so dancey or nearly as synth driven. The vocals on some of the songs are soft spoken, almost whispered like Kind of Like Spitting. Other times the vocals rise into a something more frantic and desperate almost like a wail.

Sometimes it reminds me of the voice that says “Mushroom! Mushroom!” from that Badgers song that’s floating around the internet. The lyrics are always a little weird. For example, in the title track there’s something about a deformed penis, and the last line repeats “Cremate me after you come on my lips, Place my ashes in a vase beneath your workout bench.”

They also throw in a lot of unconventional instrumentation. There’s lots of dissonant and/or droning sounds from a range of instruments including the harmonium, Gongs, bells, horns, rattles, feedback, and synthesizer. They couple this with some very pretty sometimes stringed music, incorporating some modern classical influence as well as Gamelan music (Javanese Gong Ensemble, where the percussion instruments, mainly comprised of gongs of varied sizes, are the main melodic instruments).

When asked, one member said they aim to stand for “Music that is Genuine, Honest, and goes over the top.” That’s not hard to see. Even when there is a lot going on and a lot of energy in the songs they don’t make you want break something as much as they make you want to cut yourself.