My Favorite Records of 2004 - #2 - Xiu Xiu Fabulous Muscles (5RC)

Xiu Xiu are the only band working within the last 5 years who, I think, can legitimately claim to have defined a genre, even if nobody's bothered to name it. But it's not like glitchcore or glam-sludge - it's not really something recognizeable as "genre". Basically, Jaime Stewart probably couldn't write songs like other people do even if he tried. It's fundamentally pop music, but with glimpses of avant-garde, noise, and dance. It's also charged with being over-the-top and melodramatic. This may be so, but on tracks like "I Broke Up (sj)" from Knife Play, it's also very affecting.

But anyway, having defined a sound that is totally distinct doesn't seem to have been enough for Jaime Stewart. Now, it seems, he seeks to perfect it. And on Fabulous Muscles, he has found a way to connect as a pop record to a greater extent than ever before. It lacks the occasionally grating and self-indulgent moments that have marred his other albums, all while crafting two of the best Xiu Xiu songs yet ("Crank Heart" and "I Luv the Valley OH!").

I had a feeling when this record came out that it would be the best record of the year. But for one, I was right.