Angel Guts: Red Classroom (album)

Angel Guts is Xiu Xiu's follow-up studio album to its 2012 Always.[2] The album was recorded at Nurse, the home studio of Jamie Stewart, and the Elmwood studio of producer John Congleton in Dallas, Texas.[3] The instruments on the album are limited to analog drum machines, analog synthesizers, and a drum set.[3]

Stewart's songwriting was influenced by his move from North Carolina to a crime-ridden area of Los Angeles, as well as the aforementioned erotic film.[4] Stewart's home was near "a park divided among four gangs, a lake routinely dragged for bodies, [and] a building wherein two infant skeletons were recently uncovered".[3]

The album's first single, "Stupid in the Dark", was released via Pitchfork[3] on SoundCloud on November 20, 2013.[4] The album was released on February 4, 2014[2] in the US via Polyvinyl Records and in the UK via Bella Union[2] on CD, clear vinyl, limited-edition red vinyl, and as a digital download.[4]

Music videos were made for "Stupid in the Dark," "Botanica de los Angeles," "Cinthya's Unisex," "Lawrence Liquors," "Bitter Melon," "El Naco," and "Black Dick." The latter two were premiered on non-music websites rather than YouTube —"El Naco" on a horror site and "Black Dick" on a porn site.

"Botanica de Los Angeles" is the end credits music for Creep 2.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The 405	7.5/10[6]
AllMusic	[7]
Consequence of Sound	D−[1]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[8]
MusicOMH	[9]
NME	7/10[10]
Pitchfork	6.6/10[11]
PopMatters	[12]
This Is Fake DIY	[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[14]

In a positive review, Giuseppe Zevolli of Drowned in Sound praised the album saying, "is the typical blend of passion, pain and awkwardness which makes Xiu Xiu what they are. Fearless, demanding, relentlessly subversive".[8] Tim Lee of DIY thought "Most of the time ‘Angel Guts: Red Classroom’ is either provoking creeping dread or all out panic, with the latter just making the former seem even more frenzied. An album trying to survive under the harshest conditions, is a properly thrilling listen."[13] Leonie Cooper of NME found the album to be quite similar to the band's former records, "superficially it resembles many of Xiu Xiu’s others by draping wracked and fragile vocals over obtuse electronics and analogue atonality. However, Stewart and musical partner Angela Seo venture further than ever before into realms of horror-soundtrack psychodrama."

Ian Cohen of Pitchfork was less complimentary, saying, "Angel Guts is yet another strong, occasionally frustrating record restrained by Stewart’s consistency."[11] Similarly, "AllMusic" commented, "The results could be shocking for shocking's sake -- and sometimes they are -- but Xiu Xiu still deliver nuances within this abrasive territory" and "It might not be as haunting as some of their earlier work, but Angel Guts: Red Classroom proves Xiu Xiu can still make impressively intimidating music -- even if their real strengths arguably lie elsewhere."[7]

In a negative review, Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound, described the album as "the most boring, inane, and useless work Xiu Xiu has produced to date" and was extremely critical of the lyrical content saying "This album is offensive not because it broaches subject matter no other musicians will touch, but because it skips across the surface of content other musicians have been tackling thoughtfully for years."[1] Kevin Catchpole of PopMatters was also dismissive of Stewart' vocals throughout the album "[Stewart] takes this style of singing and just drives it into the ground. There is just too much of it to take in when repeated so often over an entire album".[12]

Credits adapted from All Music.[15]

Xiu Xiu

• Jamie Stewart – vocals, analogue synthesizer, drum machine
• Angela Seo – analogue synthesizer