On their releases from the late 2010s and early 2020s,
Xiu Xiu pushed boundaries harder than ever; even by their standards, albums like
Ignore Grief were shockingly bleak.
Angela Seo and
Jamie Stewart seek to "destroy previous aesthetic notions" on
13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips -- and if anyone can do that, it's
Xiu Xiu. Rather than concentrating on either their experimental or (relatively) pop sides, as on some of their previous releases, they deliver new expressions of all their time-tested strengths. It's immediately apparent that their skill at melding tenderness and brutal honesty remains second to none. "I have done almost nothing right/My entire adult life,"
Stewart confides with shivering vulnerability on "Arp Omni," which begins the album steeped in love, regret, and lush atmospheres equally indebted to
This Mortal Coil and
Angelo Badalamenti. Few artists can question conventional notions of what makes music challenging or accessible like
Xiu Xiu, and this rare skill is at its peak on the combatively catchy industrial grind of "Maestro One Chord" and the bristling distortion and super-saturated melodies of "Common Loon." While
13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips is slightly less unsettling than
Ignore Grief, extreme sounds and feelings are never far from
Stewart and
Seo's music. Their commitment to pairing raw emotion and avant-garde sounds remains strong on "Bobby Bland," a meditation on dysfunctional families that balances chaos and poignancy with surprising delicacy when
Stewart sings, "Mother and father/Do not have to be a biological disaster/They could be kindred spirits/And strangely moving" and on the wailing finale of "Piña, Coconut & Cherry." However, it's especially thrilling when
Xiu Xiu use new approaches to express their righteous fury. Lurid synths worthy of a giallo score collide with corroded guitars on the excellent "Veneficium," which rocks in a way the band haven't before. Similarly, "T.D.F.T.W."'s punk-inspired intensity and "Sleep Blvd."'s metallic guitars give an extra heft to
Stewart and
Seo's outrage. Exploratory in a way that feels fresh,
13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips reflects
Xiu Xiu's need to keep challenging themselves more than two decades into their career. ~ Heather Phares
