Photos: Xiu Xiu, Dancing Plague and Entresol get loud in Eugene

Jamie Stewart has a few things to get off his chest.

His band, the desperately dark and endlessly experimental Xiu Xiu, headlined a night of dissonance at Old Nick’s Pub in Eugene on Sunday, May 26. Touring in support of this year’s Greg Saunier-produced Girl with Basket of Fruit, Xiu Xiu’s live act currently consists of Stewart — the only constant member of the group since its formation in 2002 — backed by two members of Swans: drummer Thor Harris and bassist Christopher Pravdica. (Angela Seo and Jordan Geiger are also current members of Xiu Xiu, but did not appear on this tour).

Though they’re promoting a very good new record, Xiu Xiu’s setlist spanned the band’s 17-year career; fan favorites from 2002’s Knife Play and 2003’s A Promise appeared alongside 2019 singles “Scisssssssors” and “It Comes Out as a Joke.” (They also closed their set with this writer’s personal favorite, “Get Up,” from 2017’s FORGET.)

While Xiu Xiu’s records are well-known for their dense, complex layers of production, the band eschews attempting to recreate the studio sounds in a live setting. Instead, Stewart and his collaborators focus on emphasizing the extremes of the songs. One moment, Stewart might be incoherently whispering into the microphone, the next, he’s distorting a guitar chord beyond all recognition. And, with Harris and Pravdica’s wall-of-sound pedigrees, this iteration of Xiu Xiu knows how to get loud.

That being said, there is still plenty of room for experimentation at a Xiu Xiu show. In addition to guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, Xiu Xiu performed with scissors, shakers, both standard and slide whistles, and a duck call, among others. At one point, Stewart played drums with a set of anal beads while Harris took his place at the microphone.

Eugene noise-pop artist Entresol and Portland industrial-electronic composer Dancing Plague provided opening support.

Girl With A Basket of Fruit is available through the artist’s website and Bandcamp.