When I first heard Xiu Xiu, I was blown away at the intelligence of their style of electronic pop. The vocals teetered on the edge of breaking down at any second, and it was all very exciting.
On each of their releases since their first, they have failed to capture that same intensity and that the emotions displayed come off as overly melodramatic nonsense. Granted, I can’t tell what’s inside someone’s heart or behind their intentions, and I certainly don’t think the band are faking it (in fact I know some of the subject material for the album, and I know that these people are sincere and have something to say), but it doesn’t sound sincere.
It’s like watching college art majors try out for a play and be really, really into it but fail to convey the emotions that they are acting out. Sure, that’s cool if that’s what you’re into, but if you aren’t, it results in an hour of feeling uncomfortably embarrassed.
Everything about The Air Force, from the go-nowhere piano doodling to the harsh abrasiveness of electronic sounds and vocal screams coming at you from nowhere is annoying. Somewhere along the way, Xiu Xiu traded in making quirky, angular electronic pop for making aural warfare, and that’s a bummer.