The Air Force
by Xiu Xiu
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. cokemachineglow
    81
    The Air Force has a lot of good songs on it.
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
    80
    The Air Force may signal that Xiu Xiu isn't as jarring and bewildering as they once were, but there's more than enough fortitude and craft present to ensure that Stewart will always be a good handful of steps ahead of everyone else making "experimental" pop.
  3. AllMusic
    80
    The goal of Xiu Xiu's confessional, confrontational music is to shake their listeners out of complacency and make them think and feel; once again, they accomplish this mission beautifully.
  5. Pitchfork
    80
    Their most understated, surprisingly sweetest album to date.
  6. PopMatters
    80
    Their greatest album.
  7. Drowned In Sound
    80
    It seems, in musical form, this album moves back and forth between sore tenderness and a violent turn - coercing the listener into adoring the beauty and open-wound vulnerability, but simultaneously pushing the same listener away with a dirty menace and obtuse lyricism.
  8. Under The Radar
    80
    There aren’t any huge surprises or new developments on The Air Force;. Which, coming from a band that sounds like nothing else on the indie landscape, means that it’s another devastating collection of deluded, terrifying grandeur. [#15]
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  9. NOW Magazine
    80
    Here, Jamie Stewart and his crew of arty innovators use the penchant for sonic deconstruction they honed last time round to take their project of disemboweling pop songs to a new plane.
  10. Los Angeles Times
    75
    Each Xiu Xiu song is a little hothouse where the forbidden grows, not free, but safe.
  11. Prefix Magazine
    70
    The Air Force goes beyond music that you play to clear out a party; it's the album you play to let your invitees know that you actually hate them.
  12. Slant Magazine
    70
    If lacking the thematic coherence of the politically-charged La Foret or the alternately furious and vulnerable Fabulous Muscles, the songs on The Air Force trade in volatile sexual energy and a degree of self-loathing that's more fully-realized than most goth-metal bands would dare record.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. Andrew
    Oct 4, 2006
    8
    The amputated beats in Buzz Saw made me remember all of a sudden how close to perfect Xiu Xiu can get without even seeing it. It's such The amputated beats in Buzz Saw made me remember all of a sudden how close to perfect Xiu Xiu can get without even seeing it. It's such a frustrating album -- really good, but it could have been better if it wasn't so... Xiu Xiu!… Full Review »
  2. AramisG
    Sep 21, 2006
    8
    Still a little inconsistant, but has some of my favorite new material since Knife Play. the solid material here is really really good. I love Still a little inconsistant, but has some of my favorite new material since Knife Play. the solid material here is really really good. I love that this band puts an album (or two) out every year.… Full Review »
  3. JasonM
    Sep 18, 2006
    10
    great!!!
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