The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Rumpus rumpus room room Black black blue blue blue blue Rumpus room Krampus room Electric black black black blue blue Don’t do it Accused of being pretty Never smile never cry Don’t do it Fingers castanet-ed Lovelessly chalked, lovelessly dried Don’t trip on your skates You cough a lot Don’t you want, to openly like me A coconut hits. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. For every optimistic, measured OH, there’s a harsh, pessimistic NO.Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Though they’re a duo, OH NO sees them taking inspiration from others, working in the spirit of a collective. Yet here, Xiu Xiu transform with the inclusion of others.
It’s strange that a collaborative album from a band as insular as Xiu Xiu could feel as honest and receptive as it does.
Vocals are mystified in reverb and noise, while Chelsea Wolfe shines here in what is clearly a full circle moment in her own discography. While the original version, taken from The Cure’s 1982 album Pornography, is jangly at heart Stewart and Wolfe’s delivery is even more tormented than that of Robert Smith, finding the bleakest route for the song. Here, they reimagine The Cure’s unsettling industrial rock masterpiece alongside goth rock legend Chelsea Wolfe. Xiu Xiu still find time to include another lengthy sonic exploration in ‘One Hundred Years’. ‘Sad Mezcalita’ contains some of the most euphoric moments in the band’s recent work. In the brilliant opener ‘Sad Mezcalita’, which features standout collaborator Sharon Van Etten, waves of ripping bass and chilling synths are present, but only exist to emphasise Stewart and Van Etten. Not every track here contains the seemingly perpetual weirdness that defines the duo though.
He rants of Flaming Hot Cheetos and muses “what is faith without a crisis?” In Seo’s self-directed music video, she is abducted and taken to a rumpus room while Stewart murmurs, “unwrap a cutie.” Their chaotic inhibitions continue in ‘Fuzz Gong Fight’, a duet between Stewart and Seo, Xiu Xiu sample their breakthrough 2004 song ‘I Luv the Valley OH!’, before fuzzy, distorted bass and unsettlingly bright keys that reminisce their Plays the Music of Twin Peaks album, charges through. In ‘Rumpus Room’, Stewart sings over a distorted lo-fi beat and crisp, explosive drums. Leaving that record in the past doesn’t necessarily mean Stewart and his bandmate Angela Seo move away from the endearing weirdness that makes them so special. What could come across as a gimmicky change of format, ultimately works wonders at elevating Xiu Xiu’s sound following their most devastating album. Over its elaborate hour-long runtime, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart shares his stage as a vocalist with fifteen others. Their twelfth album and their second as a duo, OH NO, find odd reassurance in the aftermath of its tortured predecessor, opting for a refreshing new approach.Īt its heart, OH NO is an album of duets. Over their past eleven studio albums, they’ve embraced disturbing post-rock, irresistible industrial dance, melancholic singer-songwriter, and in the case of last album Girl With Basket of Fruit the harrowing hybrid of doom folk and noise music. To begin to describe the elements that make up a Xiu Xiu record feels contradictory at heart.