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Perhaps you’re looking for a standard “four on the floor” dance beat to guide you through your evening. Or maybe you’re more in the market for a methed-out Southeast Asian Morrissey impersonation. If it’s the latter, Xiu Xiu is here to help. The group’s central member, Jamie Stewart, has offered a challenging mix of crazy percussion, abrasive electronics, and wobbly, faux-dramatic (or is he serious?) vocals for a decade. The band’s become more focused over that time—walls of impenetrable noise have given way to blips and squeaks—but remained as daring as ever. Expect unidentifiable instruments and gadgets deploying dissonance at all the right times. Stewart has the pathos of the most over-the-top teen heartthrob, only his has been funneled through a particularly warped sense of humor. See Stewart’s fabulous muscles in action and find out what his recent self-loathing is really about.
XIU XIU PERFORMS WITH TUNE-YARDS AND TWIN SISTER AT 8:30 P.M. AT DC9, 1940 9TH ST. NW. $12. (202) 483-5000.