Flip Off The Mirror As Protest

Xiu Xiu is coming out with a new album at the end of February (I've already bought my tickets for their New York show in April) and a number of tracks were leaked to YouTube. I can't get enough of this one:

They are the only band I can think of since, perhaps, Joy Division who can pull off an album, track and chorus named “Dear God, I Hate Myself,” and come off as deranged rather than self-piteous. Well, Ian Curtis came off as if channeling Thánatos through his wiry frame. Jamie Stewart, on the other hand, was driven mad by the unknown and unnameable gods of Lovecraft. "Dear God, I Hate Myself" isn't a complaint or a plea for sanctity -- it is an just and vitriolic accusation meant to pierce the heart of the creator for allowing a life such as his to exist. This intense (overbearing, even) theatricality is the heart of Xiu Xiu and my reason for enjoying them as much as I do. There's no way to express these universal emotions without diving into an ocean of hyperbole thicker and more viscerally disturbing than any river running through a Chinese factory. An unflattering review in the SF Chronicle defined Jamie's voice as having...

...perfected the sound of being one misheard remark away from a histrionic breakdown. His choruses are such clingy pleas that they trigger physical discomfort if you're not a fan.

Image co. Xiu Xiu's MySpace

Music reviewer Jennifer Maerz, I have just watched the point whiz by you at Mach 3. I don't think there is a single Xiu Xiu fan alive who isn't physically uncomfortable listening to the band. In the words of Dr. Strangelove, that is the whole idea of this machine. Even the genuinely sweet-sounding songs like “Hello From Eau Claire” contain an unnatural lyrical undercurrent meant for the listeners to awkwardly brush their fingers through their hair in order to have an excuse to avert their ear-gaze from the lyrics.

In related news, Former Ghosts (a side project involving Jamie Stewart, which I have written about here) have finally come out with an official music video. There's a bit of pukin' at the end, if you're sensitive to it: