Xiu Xiu (pronounced "shoo shoo") began in 2002 in San Jose, California by original members Lauren Andrews, Yvonne Chen, Cory McCulloch and Jamie Stewart. Current members are Shayna Dunkelman, Angela Seo, Ches Smith and Jamie Stewart. They are based in Los Angeles and New York.

Over the life of the band, the music has taken influence from noise, modern classical, the dance floor, post punk, experimental, minimalism, Asian percussion musics and American folk music. Frequently noted as well are the influences of the films of Todd Solondz, Shohei Imamura, David Lynch and Seijun Suzuki and the books of Elfriede Jelinek, V.S, Naipaul, Yukio Mishima and Ingeborg Bachmann.

The music of Xiu Xiu has been noted for its bleakness, lyrics commonly including references to depression, suicide, militarized violence, abuse, sexual disaffection, and body dysphoria. The management of the public image of the band has taken a similar tone, including the insertion of a poster into an LP sleeve of photographs of band-related cuts, brands, and tattoos sent by listeners. They have been critically divisive.

To date, they have released well over 50 titles including albums, 7inches, books, film works and composed for dance pieces. They have collaborated with a number of artistic and musical luminaries such as Carla Bozulich, Michael Gira, Dahn Vo, Monika Gryzmala, Grouper, Larsen, These Arches, Deerhoof, John Congleton, Dirty Beaches, Oxbow and Shearwater.

The name Xiu Xiu is taken from the film "Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl." They currently release albums on Bella Union and Polyvinyl Records. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.