Xiu Xiu makes me happy that I'm not in their songs.

Otherwise, I'd be a suicide case, a disgruntled war veteran at 18, a Lolita who threatens to tell of her affair with an older married man with kids, a drag queenl who falls for a straight guy and wants him to "cum on my lips, honey boy"--OK, you got it. On top of that, I do a killer Jamie Stewart impersonation by just sounding like I'm on a brink of tears while making noises similar to "singing." I love it. What did I say earlier today? I love unconventional vocalists.

But damn, the shit's real. Happens everywhere, all the time. For those of you who are musical extremists who hate to see their favorite indie rock band lend a song to a Chrysler commercial and would rather them be poor and hungry for the rest of their lives in order for them to have "indie cred," then you needn't to worry. Xiu Xiu doesn't seem to have it in 'em to go that route. They are straight gangsta and I cannot even imagine them polishing their sound.

Shit, even if they did, I'd be behind them 200 percent. Remember when Ethan Hawke's character in Great Expectations (which probably happened in the actual Dickens classic, but not gonna lie--never read the shit) got rich alluvasudden because Robert De Niro's character bought all of his paintings in the gallery? I'd be Xiu Xiu's De Niro.

Their new album, Women As Lovers, drops tomorrow, and after listening to only four tracks, I'm convinced that it's another brilliant album to add to the collection. Xiu Xiu is the type of band that I'd consider a gradual choice to be considered "one of my favorite bands of all time." You know the deal: you discover a band that you think is so amazing that you can only listen to them in snippets, otherwise it'll be too overwhelming. Then you forget about them, never buy a single album and let two, three new albums slip by until one day you're reunited with your initial, gut instinctual feelings: these babies are fucking incredible, and now that they're in my grasp again, I ain't lettin' go.

Listen:
Xiu Xiu - In Lust You Can Hear the Axe Fall
Xiu Xiu - I Do What I Want, When I Want