Xiu Xiu

Long before they entrenched themselves in a spat rivaling the East Coast/West Coast rivalry of Biggie and Tupac, former Smiths front man Morrissey and fellow sad sot Robert Smith of The Cure somehow produced an offspring, a sullen young'un named Jamie Stewart. Details are sketchy as to how said progeny...

By Benjamin Leatherman

March 3, 2005

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Long before they entrenched themselves in a spat rivaling the East Coast/West Coast rivalry of Biggie and Tupac, former Smiths front man Morrissey and fellow sad sot Robert Smith of The Cure somehow produced an offspring, a sullen young'un named Jamie Stewart. Details are sketchy as to how said progeny came about, but during a tumultuously traumatic childhood filled with dark angst, sexual obsession and neurosis, Stewart displayed a penchant for pained pining like his papas. Okay, we're kidding about all this, but you can imagine such a situation when listening to Stewart's hypnotic wailing for his indie/emo/post-punk outfit Xiu Xiu. Against a soundscape of drawn-out, warbling synth and guitar, he delivers catchy, melodic, sometimes caterwaul-filled songs about isolation, pain and love, before breaking into a near whisper during the requiem for a gay lover murdered by his beefcake boyfriend in "Fabulous Muscles," the title track to Xiu Xiu's most recent LP: "Cremate me after you cum on my lips/Honey boy/Place my ashes in a vase/Beneath your workout bench." Ol' Moz and Bob would be proud.

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music, and nightlife. He began writing for New Times in 2003 and joined the staff full-time in 2005. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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