Xiu Xiu

Over the course of a 10-year career, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart has done his best to keep casual listeners out of his sphere, requiring every new Xiu Xiu listener to either get on board with the band’s divisive lyrics and abrasive noise rock, or to get lost. That said, Xiu Xiu is in an unthinkable position from when the band started. The band’s new album, Always, is more accessible and more publicized than any previous Xiu Xiu release. (It even has a track that’s almost cheery with a taste of optimism, albeit eerily so: the manic-depressive roll call, lead single “Hi.”) Of course, it wouldn’t be an album from Jaime Stewart without a few songs to make the uninitiated scrunch up their faces, like the pure punch in the face of “I Luv Abortion.”

Updated 05/21/2012