To even attempt to classify the music of Xiu Xiu would be an exercise in futility. Frontman Jamie Stewart has spent nearly two decades with this project building one of the most varied and eclectic discographies of any band making music today.
There are times when he’s embraced the conventions of pop music and made artful and almost poppy tunes, but almost as frequently Xiu Xiu has made music that cleaves to virtually no established structure. Except perhaps the “no wave” tradition pioneered by bands like the Swans in the 1980s. There’s been atonal covers of New Order and ZZ Top, a Nina Simone tribute record, and perhaps most famously, Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, which found Stewart and co. reimagining the beautifully ominous sounds that Angelo Badalamenti originally conjured for David Lynch’s landmark television series.
Xiu Xiu as a touring band has proven as malleable as its sound. In 2013, Stewart toured solo in support of the aforementioned Swans, performing a lengthy drone set where his vocalizations were limited to barking like a dog.
The present…
And now, in 2019, as he sets out on the road showcasing material from Xiu Xiu’s latest, Girl with Basket of Fruit, Swans members Christopher Pravdica and Thor Harris, the latter of whom has a lengthy history with both bands, have joined Stewart in a trio. The addition of two members from one of the most loud and punishing bands of the modern era is a smart choice, as this new record is a sharp departure from the band’s previous, Forget.
While that album is one of Xiu Xiu’s most accessible efforts to date, alongside instant classic “Fabulous Muscles”, “Girl with Basket of Fruit” descends into an abrasive world of distorted sound and found instruments. It also boasts an increased emphasis on percussion, likely owing to the production of longtime Xiu Xiu member Angela Seo, as well as Greg Saunier of Deerhoof – both percussion virtuosi in their own right.
Upstairs at the Columbus Theatre in Providence, RI
…is an optimal place for a Xiu Xiu show. Not only is it incredibly intimate, with no bad seating and a front row that’s practically on top of the stage, its deep red curtains lend a certain Lynchian aesthetic to it that fits perfectly with the weirdness of Xiu Xiu’s music.
Across the band’s 18-year history (more if you count Stewart’s previous project Ten in the Swear Jar, where some of the band’s songs originated), the one constant of Stewart’s career has been the lyrical content. No matter how he’s framed it musically, Xiu Xiu has always carried heavy and dark sentiments about love, sadness, violence, and sex.
Even when a song has a pleasant and poppy cadence, such as ‘Clowne Towne’ or ‘I Luv the Valley OH!’, Stewart’s lyrics are typically chronicling a dismal scene, as evidenced by his pained delivery that often rises into a scream.
In keeping with the theme of the latest album, the set as a whole skewed towards the band’s darker side, often imbuing even the quieter songs like ‘Sad Redux-o-Grapher’ with additional walls of sound, and Stewart at one point sending himself tumbling over one of his monitors as if unable to contain the emotion of the songs any longer.
When he sings his eyes often close, and you can see it in his furrowed brow as he conjures the feelings that originally created those songs. He’s brought along a dedicated symbol to abuse, a longtime Xiu Xiu tradition, and an array of unique instruments as well. The track ‘Scissssssors’ sees him clicking a pair of those in time with the music, while another finds Thor on the floor, abdicating his drums for a moment to control a backing track through a handful of pedals and switches.
Harris is an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, and throughout the night not only plays a sizable kit featuring cymbals emblazoned with his name, but also xylophone and clarinet. Pravdica remains with his bass for all but one song, but uses a variety of slide techniques to warp its sound into something massive and unsettling.
Amid the often chaotic instrumental wails that punctuate the night, finding Stewart leaping off the ground, guitar in hand, there are a few moments of pure tenderness. One comes when the band slows down for a performance of ‘Normal Love’, the closing track from Girl with Basket of Fruit.
Stewart’s voice is barely a whisper over the stately synth line of the track, sounding near to tears as he intones the song’s titular plea. The band ends the night with ‘Get Up’, another pleading plaintive that ends iconically. The words “you are the only reason I was born” spill forth from Stewart’s lips before the song explodes from its quiet structure into a huge, uplifting sound interrupted by an immediately-memorable series of four-note scales. ‘Get Up’ is a landmark song in Xiu Xiu’s discography, as it succeeds in capturing the sheer scale of feeling in its music, combined with some of Stewart’s most evocative lyrics about love and desperation.
No matter who the band has in studio or on tour, Xiu Xiu remains a standard-bearer for experimentation and artfulness in music. Stewart, Seo, Harris, and all their collaborators continue to make music that feels rewarding to listen to and exciting for its unpredictability, and considering the strength of this latest record, the band’s 14th LP, one can only imagine that avant-garde spirit will carry them well into the next decade.
Review and photos by Collin Heroux
