Monday, March 1st, 2010

XIU XIU – Dear God, I Hate Myself

reviewed by Matthew Wright

Xiu Xiu are theater people. I haven’t read a line of their bios, but they are — even if they don’t know it. They’re overstated, obnoxious, and consumed with self-love disguised as self-hate. On the plus side that makes for great theater, and they also happen to be great musicians (even if their songwriting makes you want to stab yourself in the leg). Case in point on Dear God, I Hate Myself is the second track “Chocolate Makes You Happy.” Great tune, idiotic lyrics. But hey, even Frank Zappa was told to shut up and play.

If you can listen to this album and regard the lyrics as another instrument it’s a blast. Great, even. Sort of like music in languages you don’t speak, or George Lucas movies. Both can be exciting but hatefully inane if you follow the dialogue. Consistently every track is horrible in regards to what it would look like on paper — pretense so thick you couldn’t spread it on bread without heating it in the microwave first.

So the lauds. Pretend there aren’t any lyrics, just music. The production is loud and busy. Drum machines, keyboards from a wild variety of instruments, numerous effects, kitchen fucking sink. But it’s flawless, and exciting. Nothing is out of place or excessive. The title track, the sixth, is a better place to start then at the top. Laser sound effect for a split second, guitar hook for the other half of the same second, then Jamie Stewart’s voice as an instrument in this Aimee Mann before she was solo weepiness. A compliment by the by, voices fucking carry. “Falkland Rd” is also of note a couple tracks down the album. It’s quiet for them, even though less than a minute in you’re hit by a wall of sound. It’s still loud, but the pace is different. Slower and brooding. Again, in a good way. One peek at their bio reveals the production end including some Deerhoof personnel. I can see that, easily. If you could get Satomi to settle down it’d probably sound something like “Falkland Rd.” There’s also a oddball track in “Cumberland Gap.” It’s short and mostly banjo — yeah, banjo. I dig bluegrass music more than anyone I know so I’ll rubber stamp that one even with its peculiar placement.

All in all, this album is highly recommended if you can listen without hearing some things. Or if you dye your hair with kool-aid and wear silver skull rings on your thumbs.

(Kill Rock Stars, 1526 NE Alberta St. #231, Portland, OR 97211)