Xiu Xiu has always been a band striving to make difficult music -- case in point, in response to all of the positive press and popularity heaped upon Fabulous Muscles -- the band's most accessible release to that point -- they released La Foret, an album of extremely loud and extremely quiet dynamics, as well as a bit of an exercise in patience (there are some songs on that album that I have never been able to make it through); this makes me wonder how they will respond to Dear God, I Hate Myself -- an album even more accessible than Fabulous Muscles, an album where the difficulty lies in its simplicity.
It has taken me a while to warm up to this album, due mainly to how subdued (for Xiu Xiu) it sounds; while it's certainly not your standard pop album, this one will probably be seen as Xiu Xiu's "pop" album in the years to come.
If it's your first time to the Xiu Xiu party, than you can't really go wrong with this one -- it has all of the elements you'll find throughout the rest of their oeuvre, but slightly diluted for general consumption. And if your ears get turned on by this one, then definitely pick up Fabulous Muscles as a chaser. Beyond that, you'll have to blaze your own trail.
Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself from Kill Rock Stars on Vimeo.
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