Xiu Xiu
reconnaissance
by Emily Logan

No journalist can accurately categorize Xiu Xiu's music, regardless of how many other bands he/she uses to describe them. But that's exactly what makes the band so fascinating. Their new album, ‘The Air Force’, was produced by Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier, an extreme but welcome change for the band.
“Greg is remarkably quick and remarkably focused,” said lead singer/multi-instrumentalist Jamie Stewart, “and what he thinks is OK to do on a record is really broad but at the same time he has incredibly strong opinions about things. He seems to stress a lot that there be something that was easy and immediate to focus on -- that it was clear what the song was about and what the important parts of the song were.”
This also affected Xiu Xiu's way of conceiving and recording songs because they had to have a clearer idea of the central focus of the song.
“Sometimes there will just be the faintest idea for an arrangement insofar as just like, 'ok, we want to try this instrument and this instrument together which we haven't tried before and see what kind of song comes out of that' or we'll make some bizzare sound that we want to have in a song and just build the song around that.”
While ‘The Air Force’ may be strikingly different from other albums, it can also easily be said that all of those past albums were pretty different as well. Stewart contributes this to the changing times.
“Partially it's really important to try to do things that we haven't done before and to try to grow and expand whatever it is that we're attempting to do,” he said, “and also that comes from each record being really pointedly about the year in which it was made... None of the records are really about any kind of teenage nostalgia or anything -- they're really about something very immediate.”
A common “immediate” theme for Xiu Xiu albums has been politics. Stewart expressed ambivalence as to if his role as a political activist or spokesperson for his beliefs is getting through, but he is optimistic that it is.
“The whole point of the band is to talk about what's happening in our lives and what we're thinking about,” he said. “I probably do something like 250 interviews for every record, so hopefully that's 250 more times that the songs on the record get to be in print. Potentially somebody might think about it ... I don't know if that makes any difference, I hope it does.”
To take a break from the complexities of creating The Air Force, Xiu Xiu also recorded a 5-track album of covers, Tu Mi Piaci, which includes This Mortal Coil's “Kangaroo” as well as “Don't Cha” by The Pussycat Dolls.
“’The Air Force’ is really intricate so it was a relief to do something that was just conceptually simple -- we did every song with only vocals and one instrument ... just to do something completely the opposite of how we usually do it.”
To change things up even further, the band has continuously collaborated with other artists, such as Devendra Banhart and Kid606, for the recently released “Remixed & Covered,” which should explain itself. When asked how they come to work with so many other musicians, Stewart said it's all just a part of the biz.
“Anytime we've collaborated with anyone else it's been because we were friends with them first – friends and fans of what they were doing. I think it works the same in any sort of (I hate to use this word) business. I'm sure all the guys who make dentures all know each other too.”
For their live shows, Xiu Xiu often has to put together completely new arrangements of the songs or at least figure out what is possible to include.
“We try to do a pretty different arrangement than that is on the record if it's possible to do, mostly because doing arrangements is one of the most enjoyable parts of music for us. And also, with most of the songs it's not technically possible to do it just like they are on the record. I think having a mix of those things hopefully makes for an interesting show.”
Recent tours have brought the band all over the world. With a leak of ‘The Air Force’ on the Internet before it was released, Stewart expressed a love-hate relationship with the all-so-important venue for reaching other countries.
“It's really mixed, I mean, I think [leaking records before they are released] is such incredible bullshit,” he said. “It's just patent theft and anybody who says it's not is just trying to assuage their guilt. But on the other hand, we've played in places like Serbia where there's no possible way they could ever have known about us if it weren't for the Internet.”
Regardless of who heard the album when, it has impressed both long-time fans and newbies. While ‘The Air Force’ is still probably one that you could not “bring home to mom” so to speak, the influence of Saunier is clear in that there seem to be more immediate sections and focus in the songs than previous albums, which is both refreshing and probably appeals to a wider audience. The band is clearly making its way toward broad appeal, whether they realize it or not.
“Boy Soprano” - track two - is a terribly awesome song, starting off with what sounds like an accordion being violently broken. A catchy guitar riff is tossed around by video game-like sounds and noise. Track three, “Hello From Eau Claire”, is an almost whimsical tune amidst the somewhat scary clowns that are the others. Keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Caralee McElroy's voice is fitting and clear. Generally, the album is dark and emotional without being whiny. It's a new level of musical maturity for the band.
For the future, Xiu Xiu is working on a new album to be completed this summer, with Saunier once again producing.
“We're not doing any sequencers or any drum programming on it, which is new,” Stewart said.
Each band member is also working on individual projects, and one more tour this year is not out of the question.
Finally, when asked about the challenges of summing up Xiu Xiu's style or genre, Stewart had this to say: “I think I just don't do it. Any comparisons to Bright Eyes always make me want to fucking barf, but that's the only thing I can think of.”