by Devin Birse (@devvvvi.b)
There’s always an element of musical cannibalism to Xiu Xiu. The endlessly innovating experimentalists have continuously paid tribute to their influences, whether that's from the cover sticker of their debut Knife Play, which stated, “When my mom died I listened to Henry Cowell, Joy Division, Detroit techno, the Smiths, Takemitsu, Sabbath, Gamelan, 'Black Angels' and Cecil Taylor.” Or the heartbreaking cover of ‘Fast Car’ on its follow-up, A Promise, Xiu Xiu have always made it clear where they stand; at a keen intersection of experimentalism and pop that tears the danceable out of the industrial and the tragedy out of the ballad.
Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu Vol. 1 appears as an almost expected enterprise. A collection of covers previously rendered subscriber-only is now out for all to hear. Yet what's unexpected still is the new dimensions of the band the record exposes. Rather than a mere covers album, Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu is almost a retrospective; a statement of what Xiu Xiu is and can be through the lens of what inspired them.
While the cover album isn’t foreign to Xiu Xiu, XMFX is interesting in how it lacks the specificity of 2013’s Nina and 2016’s Plays The Music of Twin Peaks. Rather, the songs on XMFX each represent an individual aspect of the band and their sound. At points, it's closer to a sonic showcase, a clear display of the band's unique sonic language. For the most part, the songs sound removed from their origin, rendered into Xiu Xiu originals. Soft Cell’s “Sex Dwarf” is transformed from a piece of synth pop sleaze into a brutal blast of deconstructed club. “SPQR,” one of the most straightforward tracks from This Heat's mesmerising Deceit, is now an obliterating industrial goth rager. Even a song as endlessly covered as “Psycho Killer” sounds distinctly new through the band's thrumming organ and chattering percussion. Rather than merely paying tribute to their influences, the band has turned them inside out, rendering them at points close to Xiu Xiu originals.
In fact, at its best, Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu sounds less like a cover album and more like a greatest hits compilation. With a discography as vast and ever-shifting as Xiu Xiu’s, XMFX offers a comprehensive view of their expansive sonic terrain. Their cover of Glorilla’s “Lick or Sum” highlights their equal propensity for moody darkwave and experimental percussion. “Warm Leatherette” harkens back to the band's long-lover affair with synth punk. Even their nightmarish rattling interpretation of “Hamburger Lady” fits neatly into their canon of bleak post-industrial monologues. Every angle of Xiu Xiu feels on display here; the shattering drums and screeching horns of “I Put A Spell On You” recalls underrated early experiments like “Luber” and “Jennifer Lopez.” It could even be argued that their cover of Robyn's “Dancing On My Own” is a perfect summarization of the band themselves; pop music rendered quiet dark yet still familiar, still cripplingly vulnerable.
While at points Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu can appear as just Stewart and co. attempting to locate the uncanny within these songs, tearing them inside out to expose the new potentials and unknown miseries lying within, Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu feels incredibly sincere. For all the explorations of tragedy and trauma that have emerged from Jamie Stewart's strained cries and screeches, Xiu Xiu has always been a project born out of a deep and pure love for music of all shapes and sizes. Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu could be called a love letter to the various sounds and styles that inspire Stewart, but that feels too small a description. Rather, it lands somewhere between a mission statement and a séance. At points, it’s a showcase for the band at both their catchiest and most dangerous, like on their face-melting version of “Cherry Bomb.” At others, it feels like a summoning of the souls and songs that came before them, like on their heartrending rendition of “In Dreams,” or their orchestral take on Coil’s “Triple Sun.” Like everything Xiu Xiu has done and continues to do, it’s a work indebted to the past yet looking forward to the future. If Xiu Xiu is a project born out of a need for music when all else fails, then Xiu Mutha Fuckin Xiu might be the purest example of that ethos. A whirling jukebox of the various disparate songs that fed into the band, now coming out as a grand testament to everything that makes them such an important act.