2008 Woodie Awards
"Air Force" Flies Into Dead of Night
The unconventional band's fifth album employs "Shock and Awe" tactics.
John Roberts
Issue date: 9/20/06 Section: Entertainment
The opening five seconds of Xiu Xiu's fifth album "The Air Force" are like those five seconds in a horror movie where a character is about to die. Five, four, three, two, one, and something disturbing happens. That exact feeling is captured on the album's first track entitled "Buzz Saw." The only difference is that those five seconds are repeated over and over again
throughout the song, and then the entire album.
Xiu Xiu is a band that falls into the semi-glamorous category of "prog rock." Frontman Jamie Stewart's vocals are quite reminiscent of Ian Curtis, deceased lead singer of Joy Division. His lyrics are equally as dark.
The songs in "The Air Force" are written in a
story-telling manner, however these stories sound like the six p.m. news. Tales of love gone bad, suicide and rape are all featured on this disk.
However, the musical approach to these subjects is one that is not often heard on the radio today. These taboo subjects are presented in a poetry-like manner lyrically, with challenging orchestrations of synthesizers and glockenspiel gently encasing the singer's words.
"Hello From Eau Claire," the album's third track allows Stewart a few minutes to rest his vocal chords since Caralee McElroy (Stewart's cousin) performs the song. What first sounds like a simple, almost radio-friendly song becomes much more complicated when the lyrics are examined. "I read it's lame to wish/that you won't walk out on me/but I'm not embarrassed to sing/plainly the words love and your name."
"Wig Master," the album's eleventh and final track is arguably the album's best. The first minute of lyrics are sung with vocal distortion similar to that used in Radiohead's song "Kid A." This produces a disjointed delivery that only adds to the already creepy background noise. The song also features some of the most disheartening lyrics to be written anytime in the recent past. "Loneliness isn't being alone, it's when someone loves you and you don't have it in you to love them back."
"The Air Force" clearly isn't for everyone. The lyrics are not shiny or happy; they merely hold up a mirror to society's scarred face, and ask the listener to take an honest look. The music is challenging and impossible to dance to. However, if you are looking for music that isn't just slightly or significantly, but completely
different from what you usually listen to, give Xiu Xiu a chance. You might just like it.
throughout the song, and then the entire album.
Xiu Xiu is a band that falls into the semi-glamorous category of "prog rock." Frontman Jamie Stewart's vocals are quite reminiscent of Ian Curtis, deceased lead singer of Joy Division. His lyrics are equally as dark.
The songs in "The Air Force" are written in a
story-telling manner, however these stories sound like the six p.m. news. Tales of love gone bad, suicide and rape are all featured on this disk.
However, the musical approach to these subjects is one that is not often heard on the radio today. These taboo subjects are presented in a poetry-like manner lyrically, with challenging orchestrations of synthesizers and glockenspiel gently encasing the singer's words.
"Hello From Eau Claire," the album's third track allows Stewart a few minutes to rest his vocal chords since Caralee McElroy (Stewart's cousin) performs the song. What first sounds like a simple, almost radio-friendly song becomes much more complicated when the lyrics are examined. "I read it's lame to wish/that you won't walk out on me/but I'm not embarrassed to sing/plainly the words love and your name."
"Wig Master," the album's eleventh and final track is arguably the album's best. The first minute of lyrics are sung with vocal distortion similar to that used in Radiohead's song "Kid A." This produces a disjointed delivery that only adds to the already creepy background noise. The song also features some of the most disheartening lyrics to be written anytime in the recent past. "Loneliness isn't being alone, it's when someone loves you and you don't have it in you to love them back."
"The Air Force" clearly isn't for everyone. The lyrics are not shiny or happy; they merely hold up a mirror to society's scarred face, and ask the listener to take an honest look. The music is challenging and impossible to dance to. However, if you are looking for music that isn't just slightly or significantly, but completely
different from what you usually listen to, give Xiu Xiu a chance. You might just like it.
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