Live Review: Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks

Originally commissioned by Queensland's Gallery Of Modern Art to coincide with their 2015 exhibition, David Lynch: Between Two Worlds, Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks has arisen at the most opportune of times. The world's return to Twin Peaks mania would have seemed like one of the most far-fetched predictions until a few years ago when news broke of David Lynch and Mark Frost's plans to unearth their collaborative treasures once more. Now a brief upward glance to one of the many billboards lining inner city roads will likely confirm it; Twin Peaks mania is a reality again, and it is as wondrous as the most daring of dreams.

Laura Palmer's Theme opens the set. Jamie Stewart strikes heavy blows on the kit, while Angela Seo and Shayna Dunkelman channel the theme's penetrating melodies on synth and vibraphone, respectively. Their approach is slightly more stark and angular than the original, as if borrowing inspiration from a selection of Lynch's other creative ventures. Three sequences of footage from the original series (sycamore trees blowing in the wind, the Palmers' spinning ceiling fan, and the eerie shot of the stairwell leading up to Laura's room) are looped and projected onto a large backing screen. These well-chosen visual accompaniments help capture the dark, ambient undercurrent of Lynch's worlds, so that the performers may dance, both figuratively and literally, through them.

Into The Night and Audrey's Dance are executed quite well, but it's their take on Packard's Vibration that really begins to bring the set into fruition. Dunkelman's fevered drumming on the latter is especially exhilarating. The course stays focused for some time longer, but then things suddenly go wayward with Sycamore Tree. It's possibly the most emotionally devastating among the catalogue, and would likely be a near-impossible feat to pull off, but Stewart's vocals are completely misguided. His approach feels like the equivalent of South Park's Memberberries shouting, "Hey, 'member how quirky Twin Peaks was?"

They recover somewhat with Harold's Theme and begin to consistently find their mark again on Dance Of The Dream Man, Falling, and Love Theme Farewell. Instead of leaving on a high note, they invite the Memberberries back again for Josie's Past, a track on which Dunkelman butchers Laura's December 14, 1986 diary entry. An effective rendition of Mairzy Doats from Stewart is squeezed into the final moments, but it's not quite enough to save face on this last blunder. While projects like these are always going to be fraught with moments of disaster, for the most part Xiu Xiu's effort is commendable; if only their exit had been stronger, the memory would be cherished all the more.