By now, anyone who has heard Jamie Stewart and company probably assumes that they have pretty fucked up relationships with the world, and regardless of the validity of this, it couldn't be emulated better than on their latest release Fabulous Muscles. According to Xiu Xiu's label, 5 Rue Christine, this album comes after four moves around the country, a father's suicide, hearing about a favorite young friend's failure to succeed in capitalist America, and watching helplessly as the country occupied yet another territory. These themes or some similar to them run through many artists' songs but Xiu Xiu avoids being preachy or contrived.
One might wish to discard his or her stock expectations of pop music because Xiu Xiu ain't your average pop band. Jamie and his band mates take any sound they can dream up, ranging from gongs to random synth keys to Jamie's own off key voice and throw them together in such a way that hooks arise that grab your ears and take them to some interesting destinations. With the opening track, "Crank Heart," introduced by a drum machine and some blips that appear to come from a Castlevania game, Jamie tells the listener that the album is going to be different from his band's last outings which were aimed more at minimalist composition and fractured song structure.
It's no secret that Jamie assumes roles for his songs, from being a prostitute in "Sad Pony Guerilla Girl" to a gay lover in "Fabulous Muscles." This may be what is so moving about what he does because listeners are brought into stark realities that they would most likely not face other than by watching a movie or reading a book. The first person perspectives that Jamie presents hit straight for the gut and chill the listener, as this is ever so apparent upon hearing the sparse, spoken-word track "Support Our Troops (Black Angels OH)" where Jamie recounts the murder of a defenseless child. He sums up the despair of war without the inane "Fuck the Government" motif that some bands employ. Instead, Jamie uses sounds which resemble squeals and lyrics such as "You wanted to shoot it into someone just to watch them blow up / Why should I care if you get killed?" to convey a deeper message. The honesty of Jamie's voice nearly brings the listener to tears, especially when he lets loose one of his trademark shrieks after the buildup of the song. One of these screams is produced perfectly (or rather, imperfectly) towards the end of perhaps the album's best track "I Luv the Valley OH."
With all of the despair on the album, one song stands out as uplifting, "Clowne Towne". It leaves the listener with a wonderful chorus stuck in his or her head for days, even knowing that the song is about failure and disparity.
Overall, Fabulous Muscles is Xiu Xiu's most groundbreaking release because it takes everything near and dear to pop enthusiasts and twists it tightly with gloom not seen since the Cure broke up.
-Kerry Nordstrom