13 Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips＜Green Vinyl＞

On their releases from the late 2010s and early 2020s, Xiu Xiu pushed boundaries harder than ever; even by their standards, albums like Ignore Grief were shockingly bleak. Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart seek to "destroy previous aesthetic notions" on 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips -- and if anyone can do that, its Xiu Xiu. Rather than concentrating on either their experimental or (relatively) pop sides, as on some of their previous releases, they deliver new expressions of all their time-tested strengths. Its immediately apparent that their skill at melding tenderness and brutal honesty remains second to none. "I have done almost nothing right/My entire adult life," Stewart confides with shivering vulnerability on "Arp Omni," which begins the album steeped in love, regret, and lush atmospheres equally indebted to This Mortal Coil and Angelo Badalamenti. Few artists can question conventional notions of what makes music challenging or accessible like Xiu Xiu, and this rare skill is at its peak on the combatively catchy industrial grind of "Maestro One Chord" and the bristling distortion and super-saturated melodies of "Common Loon." While 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips is slightly less unsettling than Ignore Grief, extreme sounds and feelings are never far from Stewart and Seos music. Their commitment to pairing raw emotion and avant-garde sounds remains strong on "Bobby Bland," a meditation on dysfunctional families that balances chaos and poignancy with surprising delicacy when Stewart sings, "Mother and father/Do not have to be a biological disaster/They could be kindred spirits/And strangely moving" and on the wailing finale of "Pina, Coconut & Cherry." However, its especially thrilling when Xiu Xiu use new approaches to express their righteous fury. Lurid synths worthy of a giallo score collide with corroded guitars on the excellent "Veneficium," which rocks in a way the band havent before. Similarly, "T.D.F.T.W."s punk-inspired intensity and "Sleep Blvd."s metallic guitars give an extra heft to Stewart and Seos outrage. Exploratory in a way that feels fresh, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips reflects Xiu Xius need to keep challenging themselves more than two decades into their career. ~ Heather Phares