Xiu Xiu – Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1

The most exciting and terrifying parts of dreams (or nightmares) are the ones we recognize. Familiar fragments collide and reassemble into something strange. Things we thought we knew are turned upside down or ripped apart and sewn together backwards. That unnerving thrill the shiver of recognition followed by disorientation is at the core of Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, the latest collection of covers from prolific music provocateurs Xiu Xiu. Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo and David Kendrick warp and distort classics spanning decades and genres from 1950s rock n roll to new wave, Robyn to Throbbing Gristle.

Xiu Xiu are no strangers to interpretation. Since the groups inception in 2002, theyve regularly paid homage to artists they revere from New Orders Ceremony (featured on Chapel Of Chimes EP) to David Bowie and Queens Under Pressure (for 2008s Women As Lovers).

Theyve done tribute albums 2013s Nina, honoring Nina Simone, and 2016s Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks cementing their reputation for considered reimaginings. Across twelve tracks, Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 compiles a heady selection of monthly covers the band began releasing in 2020 through their subscription series via Bandcamp, expanding their bewildering universe to commune with artists throughout time.

For Xiu Xiu, covers arent about improvement, but reverence. We never approach them thinking how can we improve these but really what can we learn from these, Stewart says of the process. Xiu Xiu explores the music thats moved them, as if each artist were a singular creative deity. The result is a small honorific offering to the muse that created us.

Some covers are a shadowed vision of the original, zooming in on the songs pronounced aura. The Runaways Cherry Bomb bratty defiance funneled through industrial pulses and slithering percussion a ticking time bomb of acidic distortion and rebellion. Their version of Talking Heads Psycho Killer is reborn with howling 60s organs, flute spirals, and swirls of reverbed vocals. It feels older than the original, as if Question Mark & The Mysterians or 13th Floor Elevators have been drawn into the conversation. Other reworkings with Robyns Dancing On My Own, or GloRillas Lick Or Sum unearth new understandings of contemporary hits.

Certain songs provided unexpected obstacles. In Dreams tested the limits of Stewart’s vocal prowess; Coils Triple Sun allowed them the opportunity to study a band that listeners are constantly linking them to; Stewart was moved to tears while recording Daniel Johnstons Some Things Last a Long Time If there ever were a sincere and wounded voice in the world it is his. On XMFX, Xiu Xiu reshapes echoes of pop history into sances, lucid dreams, and sonic rituals breathing new life into musics past through a years-long, sustainable practice.

1. Psycho Killer [Talking Heads]
2. Warm Leatherette [The Normal]
3. I Put a Spell on You [Screamin Jay Hawkins]
4. Hamburger Lady [Throbbing Gristle]
5. In Dreams [Roy Orbison]
6. Sex Dwarf [Soft Cell]
7. Dancing on My Own [Robyn]
8. SPQR [This Heat]
9. Lick or Sum [Glo Rilla]
10. Some Things Last a Long Time [Daniel Johnston]
11. Triple Sun [Coil]
12. Cherry Bomb [The Runaways]

Music played by
Tim Berne – alto saxophone
Mary Halverson – guitar
David Kendrick – drum set
Tony Malaby – tenor saxophone
Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo – viola, vox
Angela Seo – vox, backing vox, synths, percussion
Ches Smith – drum set
Jamie Stewart – vox, guitar, drum machine, synths, organ, bass, piano
Houda Zakeri – backing vox

Recorded in Los Angeles at Nurse and Berlin at Krankenschwester
Mastered by Alan Douches in Hudson Valley at West Westside
Design by Janelle Abad

This record would not be possible without the past
& present mind bogglingly generous XMFX subscribers.