I hate sensitive indie rock, especially the lo-fi bedroom variety – but in the case of Xiu Xiu, I make an exception. Not because they tone down the genre's bad habits, but because they amplify them to such a stomach-turning level that you can't help watching them burn. It's not that Xiu Xiu leader Jamie Stewart has suffered more than others – although battling clinical depression and having two parents die in recent years can't have been easy. What makes Fabulous Muscles compelling is how Stewart lays bare all this ugly, personal shit for everyone to hear. He doesn't flatter himself but comes off as anxious and self-absorbed, quivering and hyperventilating through lines such as "cremate me after you cum on my lips" (from the album's title track).

You can hear the obvious influence of famous depressives like the Smiths and the Cure, but Xiu Xiu explode those bands' more traditional rock approach with low-tech, often threadbare arrangements and occasional avant-garde tendencies that wouldn't be out of place at a gig by Mills College music students. Exhibit A here is "I Luv the Valley," the best Xiu Xiu song I've heard. You may hate this band and think they're pretentious but give them a chance. They've got guts, something most indie rock bands sorely lack these days. (Will York)

Audio Out Send
... Or Does It Explode? (A Flashcard Project)

The answer to the title question of Audio Out Send's debut is that it does not, in fact, explode. Nor does it need to: the Oakland foursome formerly known as Lazybones make a bigger impression with their subdued, atmospheric rock than many acts do with bombastic declarations of sound and fury. On their often excellent follow-up to 2000's Introducing the Plastic Fantastic: An EP, the band come off like longtime admirers of the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin and early-Death Cab for Cutie records, with vocalist Ben Jennings waxing melancholic as his band's layered, prettified rock din unravels around him. It's a slow unraveling, sure, but one that rewards with patient, repeated listens.