With a band as long running and prolific as Xiu Xiu, it is hard to not end up reviewing the band rather than just the album. Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 is a cover album, with the tracklist decided by the fans that have subscribed to their Bancamp. As expected from both Xiu Xiu and their fans, the styles and genres are very wide ranging. Like Sparks (of which their current drummer David Kendrick is a former member), they have a cult fanbase and have stayed prolific over a long career, and whereas many of their albums (originals or otherwise) dive deep into one specific part of their eclectic sound, this compilation by definition is a much more varied look at Xiu Xiu as a whole.
Xiu Xiu are not a band that are afraid of covers or reinterpretations. Having had whole cover/tribute albums indebted to Nina Simone and Twin Peaks, and covers on projects throughout their career (‘Fast Car’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ to name just two), none of this is new. On Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, there’s pop, post punk and noise, and it is all presented in a way that feels authentically Xiu Xiu. None of this is new or groundbreaking for Xiu Xiu, but a more rounded, holistic take on the band is a rarer find.
Photo Credit: Xiu Xiu
Xiu Xiu’s approach to pop has always been unique, especially as they started their career between the futuristic y2k era, and the perfectly tuned production of “recession pop.” Between those eras, the rise of poptimism has given pop music more mainstream critical appraisal, but sometimes with a lack of focus of reinterpreting the songwriting as a form, and more as just an end product. The typical modern pop song cover seems to have been standardised by online content creators who seem to sneer at the original while doing their own take in their preferred genre (Metal/Pop Punk/Sad Piano/etc.) that they’re considering to be more musically valid. This is not the case here, the cover of ‘Dancing On My Own’ understands what makes the songs tick (dancing while your life collapses) and keeps the same thesis as the Robyn original. All of the covers are drenched in the distorted electronics that Xiu Xiu are known for, but the emotion is never in doubt. The throughline is kept, and sometimes hits even harder
‘Lick or Sum’ and ‘Sex Dwarf’ drip with desire and lust, and the stylings of the goth/industrial clubs of pop culture fascination. Specifically “Sex Dwarf” bangs in a way that no Xiu Xiu song has, and feels almost tailor made for club play.
Alongside the more modern pop covers, ‘In Dreams’ and ‘Cherry Bomb’ touch on the pop continuum, and there is a current of new wave and early post punk throughout as well which bridges the gap in between. Alongside influential songs by influential projects such as The Normal’s ‘Warm Leatherette’ and This Heat’s ‘SPQR’, there is also a cover of era contemporaries Throbbing Gristle. The sounds and textures on the cover of ‘Hamburger Lady’ are very much Xiu Xiu, and it may be one of the few covers of a “noise” song, which is notable in of itself.
Xiu Xiu have removed themselves from Spotify, and cutting yourself off from inarguably what many people use as a music discovery platform does turn yourself inward to your already established base. This is their first release since, and it’s hard to get a more “for the fans” release than a compilation of tracks that only the most dedicated fans would have heard, with the curation assisted by said fans, but this could be a look to how releases for artists who are trying to be post-social media could look.
Compilations can feel a bit aimless, but Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 feels like an album, and despite it using the words of others, the curation of it gives it something to say. If you were stuck under a rock with nothing to accompany you apart from the full works of Xiu Xiu sans context, it would be hard to see it as anything but a Xiu Xiu album.