Xiu Xiu conjure many feelings and thoughts about music, to say they conjure genres may be a stretch though, but they clearly express a need. The singles from Forget, “Get Up” and ”Forget” do not quite conjure coveted stars in their collections like the vocals in “Falkland Ave” or the melody in “I Love the Valley OH!”, but they have grown somewhat from those days, and this is most evident in songs like the eclectic “Botanica de Los Angeles” off of Angel Guts:Red Classroom, and this eclecticism is seen in some of these new songs as well.
Life can be stuck, but it cannot be outrun, so Xiu Xiu’s hard knock life and giddy electronics apply a little for everyone, but in a more measured detail. That is not a criticism, they may be better on this release, but they are more importantly vivid and detailed.
The first song “The Call” is weird and an obvious hit at rap and misogyny in any scene, or industry; it is decent and very Morrissey-esque, though something more as well. In “Call” and then “Queen of the Losers”, there plays out more subtle techno alternative. There may be too many old tricks here, with the keyboard glitch thing going on, that said, they play some more solid really melodic stuff on the follow up track.
“Wondering” is very indie and brooding, yet upbeat in the lyrics, and this kind of strange mellow is to be expected. “Get Up” continues the mellow and is extra dramatic for the better. “Hot Choco Banana” gets back to more instrumental Xiu Xiu, and while it is clear performance is part of Xiu Xiu, these songs do a bit more, which is what one would hope for in the end, and of course there is the more depressing stuff, like “Call”, the lackluster “Jenny Go-Go”, and then “At Last, At Last”. The latter of which is almost pop-synth, and again, in a good way. “Forget”, fittingly may be the best takeaway for this release, as it is the type of song that plays well with most indie listeners and could be a ‘hit’, if such an obscure band can have such a thing. ”Petite” is also solid and has interesting strings, which continue in “Faith Torn Apart” with more doomsday elements here though.
Xiu Xiu exist to express, explain, and help with loneliness or inexpressible frustration, and in this regard Forget does come through for fans, and most of the songs bring a new melody, if some are too obscure. The themes are the same, and hopefully Xiu Xiu can build off of this rather than continue too many of these, but either way they help broaden thinking with songs like “Call”, “Forget”, and “At Last At Last”.
