Xiu Xiu - The Air Force

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 20 / 10 / 2006

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Review

For Xiu Xiu’s fifth studio album, 'The Air Force,' primary songwriter Jamie Stewart and his cousin Caralee McElroy are joined by Deerhoof’s founding member and drummer Greg Saunier on production duties and various instrumentation. The pairing seems to make sense, as both bands share a tendency to mix the avant garde with more traditional song elements to create songs not quite like anything you’ve heard before. I can imagine some people might find it hard to get past Stewart’s unusual voice, which is often quite theatrical. Another thing that people might find tricky to contend with if they’re not used to it is the quick changes in volume and pace, which can sometimes be quite jarring. ‘PJ in the Streets…’ for example, is for the most part a scarcely populated ambient track with long, lingering notes and quiet vocals, but towards the end a large bassy rumble and electronic noise build up suddenly, if only for a few seconds.If you like things that are different, then these things, however, shouldn’t be a problem for you, and I personally think it’s a great record. The opening track, ‘Buzz Saw’, is mostly piano based, and quite gentle in most respects, apart from Saunier’s aggressive hits on the drums and short bursts of sample noise. The two opposing elements of soft melody and abrasive noise work wonderfully together to create a touching and fascinating song. One of my favourites on the record is ‘Hello from Eau Claire’, with the vocals supplied by McElroy. There’s something quite childlike about its glockenspiel lead music and the simple lyrics (“I can loose my own tie knot/I can button my own pants/I can buy my own cigarettes/I can pluck my own mustache”). McElroy’s voice is also very endearing, and the electro sequence in the middle of the song is fantastic. Other stand-out tracks are ‘Vulture Piano’, an almost creepy electro track with a rousing chorus and ‘Save Me Save Me’, which almost sounds like an Arcade Fire song, and is one of the more accessible tracks on the album. It’s got a great dense sound, and an exhilarating pace and emotion in Stewart’s vocal. The final track on 'The Air Force' is also one of the strangest on the album; a double bass acts as the main core of the backing music, with samples washing in and out of the song, while over the top a rather dark and slightly disturbing poem is slowly spoken. This is a brilliant album which you can’t really pigeon-hole into any specific genre, which I think is always a good sign of the talented musicians involved in making records like this. It’s an album to lie back and listen to, pay attention to and let yourself be totally immersed in. It’s beautiful music.

Track Listing:-

1 Buzz Saw
2 Boy Soprano
3 Hello From Eau Claire
4 Vulture Piano
5 PJ In The Streets...
6 Bishop, CA
7 Saint Pedro Glue Stick
8 The Pineapple Vs. The Watermelon
9 Save Me Save Me
10 The Fox & The Rabbit
11 Wig Master