Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Pitchfork Media | (9.0/10) |
| PopMatters | (Favorable) |
| Robert Christgau | (C) |
| Stylus Magazine | (C) |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | |
Fabulous Muscles has received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 80 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews." Critics were generally receptive to the album's more accessible sound.
Heather Phares of Allmusic wrote "Fabulous Muscles might be the best expression of Xiu Xiu's unrepentantly original music; even if the world that the band creates isn't necessarily one you'd want to visit all the time, it remains fascinating." Pitchfork Media's Matt LeMay also praised the album, writing "Though there are many notable high points to Fabulous Muscles, its overwhelming consistency is what cements its place as Xiu Xiu's finest. The album does not contain a single hiccup or yawn-- no extraneous noise, no potentially offputting histrionics, no throwaways and no dull moments." The album also received a "Best New Music" designation in the review.
Robert Christgau gave the album a C grade, writing "The musical parsimony, cultural insularity, moral certitude, and histrionic affectations of these lo-fi artier-than-thous promise indie ideologues whole lifetimes of egoistic irrelevance." Stylus Magazine's Akiva Gottlieb also gave the album a C grade, writing "Obviously, Stewart has a penchant for self-examination—some of it brilliant and incisive—but his work is also obnoxiously self-indulgent."
Fabulous Muscles has appeared on a few end of year lists. The Morning News named it the 7th best album of 2004. Pitchfork Media ranked Fabulous Muscles #50 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2004. In addition, the same website ranked the song "I Luv the Valley OH!" #176 on their list of the Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s, with reviewer Brian Howe writing "A great Xiu Xiu song is like someone actually hurting himself, right in front of you. This isn't their most violent effort, but it's their most scouring; a place where mortar-round drums pound down on rolling bass and chiming guitars, unsubtly conveying the painful insight that some dreams have to be razed, not realized." The album also placed 19th on Tiny Mix Tapes favorite albums of 2000-2009.
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