Xiu Xiu
Women as Lovers (Kill Rock Stars)
By Emily Becker
Published: April 8th, 2008 | 2:35pm
With the release of Knife Play in 2002, Jamie Stewart cemented his place as a raconteur of the odd and the broken. Xiu Xiu, the band in which he has been the only constant member, has existed in many iterations, but its current configuration resembles the group that created The Air Force in 2006, which includes multi-instrumentalist Caralee McElroy, bassist Devin Hoff, and producer Greg Saunier (Deerhoof). Women as Lovers is a labyrinthine blend of political and emotional caterwauling with literary undertones. The album even gets its name from a novel by Austrian feminist novelist Elfriede Jelinek. Unfortunately, none of the tracks are as good as “Boy Soprano,” centerpiece of The Air Force.
Even so, on Women as Lovers Xiu Xiu tackles the near impossible task of layering completely disparate sounds — harmonica, squeaking keyboards, rimshots, whistling — but puts every noise in its place (“No Friend Oh!,” “Child at Arms,” “White Nerd”). The only unforgivable choice is wasting Michael Gira’s talents covering David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure,” which too closely mimics the original, particularly when “Guantanamo Canto,” which precedes “Under Pressure,” plays like an outtake from the Swan’s Holy Money.
On “Puff and Bunny,” Stewart perplexes and delights, with lyrics only he could deliver: “Hot pepper, hot pepper, hot pepper / Look at me I am alone / Hot pepper, hot pepper, hot pepper / I’m single, I have no friends in my new city.” The witty combination of the forlorn touched by the absurd forms the core of Stewart’s songwriting, which like a port-wine birthmark, is usually unsightly, indelible, and unforgettable.
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"I Do What I Want, When I Want" video
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