The Observer, February 22, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 18
Women as Lovers offers acoustic variation
Indie experimentalists Xiu Xiu released their sixth studio album, Women as Lovers, Jan. 29 on Kill Rock Stars. While continuing toward an approachable edge, Xiu Xiu has made their synthetic cacophony increasingly listenable and even likable with each album. Women as Lovers continues the typical Xiu Xiu trend of in-your-face noise attacks with Jamie Stewart's bitterly emotive lyrics interspersed with acoustic numbers that often seem boring in comparison.
Upon first listen, the opening track, "I Do What I Want, When I Want" seems to find a new-found balance of laid-back tension and manic instrumentation. While remaining laid-back, Stewart's vocal timbre keeps the listener on the edge of their seat. While Stewart's lyrics waver back and forth in skill, his charm comes through in the way he delivers them with the same feeling every time. The difference for Stewart is that it never makes the listener grow tired, and it is perhaps one of the reasons why Xiu Xiu succeeds at the experimental formula more often than their numerous facsimiles.
There's something different about Women as Lovers in comparison to Xiu Xiu's back catalog. It's grander in its scope; the usual chaotic sounds that normally grace Xiu Xiu albums are given a sort of order. For example, in "In Lust You Can Hear the Axe Fall," high-pitched synthesizers wail with echoing drums over Stewart's pleading lyrics. Yet it's the addition of strings and a wind section that creates a truly epic song. Usually only found sparsely on Xiu Xiu's past quiet numbers, the acoustic guitar is heard on almost every track. "FTW," "Black Keyboard," and "Master of the Bump" give the strong impression that if Xiu Xiu could make a folk album while retaining their signature sounds, Women as Lovers is it.
With that said, old fans of Xiu Xiu's craziness will still find things to love despite the group's increasing structure. "No Friend Oh!" feels like a stuttering new wave ballad with Caralee McElroy's always-welcomed vocals. Typical Xiu Xiu politico-segues are present again with "Guantanamo Canto" which harkens back to their 2004 Fabulous Muscles' politics tune, "Support Our Troops OH! (Black Angels OH!)." While throughout Women as Lovers Xiu Xiu lacks the edge they used to have, they make up for it with the absurd cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure," featuring Michael Gira of Swans fame.
Xiu Xiu is slowly drifting away from their roots, but at what price? Women as Lovers is interspersed with what feels like folk-acoustic ballads, new wave dirges, and indie jams instead of experimental noise that past Xiu Xiu albums, in their varying coherence, seemed to be full of. Perhaps the trade-off is worth it, though; Women as Lovers is the first Xiu Xiu album that is bearable in repeated listens straight through. The group hasn't completely lost their sound ("Puff and Bunny" and "Child at Arms" make this clear), and the evolution has been strikingly apparent when comparing 2002's Knife Play with their last release The Air Force. Xiu Xiu has made an album that doesn't lose their identity, but lacks something distinctly unique to the band. While not as strong as Fabulous Muscles or La Foret, Women as Lovers provides some punches. However, it could serve as an unwelcomed warning as to where Xiu Xiu is ultimately going.
