Girl with Basket of Fruit - Xiu Xiu

Girl with Basket of Fruit - Xiu Xiu
2019, Polyvinyl

I can only describe this album as absurd. I have little previous experience with the experimental band Xiu Xiu, nor do I know if I want to know more about the crew.

The sounds on this album are disturbing, contorted, even repulsive. The lyrics hardly make sense during the initial listen-through and it doesn't get much better on repeat experiences. In fact, repeated listens are what hold the album back. Like re-watching a horror movie, you know when the freaky stuff starts. Songs are no longer held up by their weirdness and, strangely enough, become boring. But that's not to say all songs lose their punch. "Mary Turner Mary Turner" will remain one of the most disturbing songs I've ever heard, as it retells the disturbing execution of Mary Turner. The title track still makes absolutely no sense and teeters on the line between enjoyably weird and too weird. Jamie Stewart's vocal delivery sounds pained at times and his vocal inflections are one of the key contributors to this album's freakishness. Yet in this madness, songs like "The Wrong Thing" and "Normal Love" tie the album to the realm of sanity.

Overall, I find the songs to be hit or miss, albeit the hits slightly outnumber the misses. I'm sure I'll be revisiting this album in my nightmares.

7.5/10

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