Xiu Xiu is one of those bands that you either get or you don’t, but if you don’t there is nothing to worry about as they provide as interesting an experience as you will see from a live band.
The audience tonight is rather sparse, considering rumours of the show selling out and Sleazy’s on a Sunday night is quite the odd experience too. On entering the hugely popular bar at around nine there is barely a sole in the place, going downstairs into the venue there are a few more but not the busy environment I had envisioned. Still those that have made it out tonight are set for a treat.
After a slow pretty sounding beginning the California band soon builds into the experimental sound they are admired for. Xiu Xiu carry with them an array of weird and wonderful equipment that they eagerly play around with, including various forms of whistles and intriguingly a Nintendo DS.
The band move through a quirky set filled with mainly tracks from new album, Dear God, I Hate Myself, who’s opener “Grey Death” provides an early spark. The odd older track squeezed in prove more than welcome to, arguably the standout of the night is the superb “I Luv the Valley OH” which puts into use the DS as Xiu Xiu’s main man Jamie Stewart taps away at the console while straining for every word.
One of the things that put many people off Xiu Xiu is how easily they move from a quaint pretty little sound to a harsh, coarse sounding synthline that almost grates your ears. However, while this may put people off this remains a big charm of the band for others and you can gather this from the crowd, standing perfectly still admirably taking the product of a clearly talented act.
As main synth player Angela Seo plays the emphatic cymbal introduction to one of the new standouts “Chocolate Makes You Happy” you can see why this band are so respected. There is something wonderfully experimental about them, they have parts in their music that are joyous to listen to and others which seem playful, they just carry that impression that they have fun making this music.
As the band move into their final track of the evening, the traumatic anthem “Boy Soprano” from 2006’s The Air Force, there is touch of satisfaction in the air. Xiu Xiu are not infrequent visitors to Glasgow and it surely won’t be long until they’re back promoting another release but if you haven’t yet seen this band give them a shot next time, you’ll get an interesting experience nonetheless but maybe you will be left with a great one.
Photo: Sam Fenn
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