Organ Thing of The Day: Well who can resist a cherry bomb thrown? The Runaways classic is always a thing of beauty and rather hard to get wrong whoever might be covering it (and there have been many)

Xiu Xiu have jsut announced anew covers compilation called Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, they’ve let loose a couple of tracks, the aforementioned Cherry Bomb and a Daniel Johnston cover, Some Things Last For Ever, here they both are, more details about the album due out in January underneath…

and

The album features covers of songs by GloRilla, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle Hamburger Lady of vourse), Coil, Robyn, Roy Orbison, The Normal/Grace Jones + more and is out on January 16th 2026 via Polyvinyl, here’s some links and the Bandcamp. Actually, they’ve gone for the obvious song in most cases…

“Today, Xiu Xiu announces plans to release a delightfully wide-ranging collection of covers that have previously only been available through subscription, titled Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, anddue for release January 16, 2026 on Polyvinyl. The announcement is accompanied by Xiu Xiu’s cover of “Cherry Bomb” originally by The Runaways, with the B-side “Some Things Last a Long Time” originally by Daniel Johnston.

Jamie Stewart shares: “We have a long history of doing covers and have done 3 albums of covers. The enduring and basic throughline with all of them is an attempt to say thank you to those songs. They are all in one way or another pieces of music that have moved us and exploring them in a deep way is a small honorific offering to the muse that created them. We never approach them thinking ‘How can we improve these’ but really “What can we learn from these?’”

With regard to the covers of The Runaways and Daniel Johnston, they add: “Unexpectedly I (forgive this melodramatic admission) cried while singing the Daniel Johnston song. If there ever were a sincere and wounded voice in the world it is his.” Further adding: “I love Joan Jett and I love being bad and this song is all about both.”

The most exciting and terrifying parts of dreams (or nightmares) are the ones we recognise. Familiar fragments collide and reassemble into something strange. Things we thought we knew are turned upside down or ripped apart and sewn together backwards. That unnerving thrill – the shiver of recognition followed by disorientation – is at the core of Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1, the latest collection of covers from prolific music provocateurs Xiu Xiu. Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick warp and distort classics spanning decades and genres – from 1950s rock n’ roll to new wave, Robyn to Throbbing Gristle.

Xiu Xiu are no strangers to interpretation. Since the group’s inception in 2002, they’ve regularly paid homage to artists they revere – from New Order’s “Ceremony” (featured on Chapel Of Chimes EP) to David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure” (for 2008’s Women As Lovers).

They’ve done tribute albums – 2013’s Nina, honouring Nina Simone, and 2016’s Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks – cementing their reputation for considered reimaginings. Across twelve tracks, Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 compiles a heady selection of monthly covers the band began releasing in 2020 through their subscription series via Bandcamp, expanding their bewildering universe to commune with artists throughout time.

For Xiu Xiu, covers aren’t about improvement, but reverence. “We never approach them thinking ‘how can we improve these’ but really ‘what can we learn from these,’” Stewart says of the process. Xiu Xiu explores the music that’s moved them, as if each artist were a singular creative deity. The result is “a small honorific offering to the muse that created us.”

Some covers are a shadowed vision of the original, zooming in on the song’s pronounced aura. The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” bratty defiance funnelled through industrial pulses and slithering percussion – a ticking time bomb of acidic distortion and rebellion. Their version of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” is reborn with howling ‘60s organs, flute spirals, and swirls of reverbed vocals. It feels older than the original, as if Question Mark & The Mysterians or 13th Floor Elevators have been drawn into the conversation. Other reworkings with Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” or GloRilla’s “Lick Or Sum” unearth new understandings of contemporary hits.

Certain songs provided unexpected obstacles. “In Dreams” tested the limits of Stewart’s vocal prowess; Coil’s “Triple Sun” allowed them the opportunity to study a band that listeners are constantly linking them to; Stewart was moved to tears while recording Daniel Johnston’s “Some Things Last a Long Time”- “If there ever were a sincere and wounded voice in the world it is his.” On XMFX, Xiu Xiu reshapes echoes of pop history into séances, lucid dreams, and sonic rituals – breathing new life into music’s past through a years-long, sustainable practice.

Xiu Xiu tour dates

16/01 – Miami, FL @ The Ground *
18/01 – Tampa, FL @ Sun Ray Cinema *
31/01 – Brighton, UK @ Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts *
01/02 – Liverpool, England @ Quarry *
02/02 – Manchester, England @ Gorilla *
04/02 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Cottiers *
06/02 – London, England @ ICA *
07/02 – London, England @ ICA *
09/02 – Paris, France @ La Marbrerie *
02/04 – Athens, Greece @ Danaos Cinema *
09-12/04 – The Hague, Netherlands @ Rewire Festival *

* ERASERHEAD performances

Meanwhile talking of Joan Jett, artist and riot grrl, Emma Harvey has just revisited her Joan Jett print for a 2025 limited edition version via the Art Car Boot Fair (where Emma did her Chips or Joan Jett thing in 2018), view it or indeed buy it here or see/buy more of Emma’s prints here via the Cultivate Gallery online shop

Previously..

ORGAN THING: A busy East London Thursday, packed out at Nothing is Square, My Dog Sighs gets very busy at Nelly Duff and what did Joan Jett do anyway?

ART CAR BOOT FAIR PREVIEW Pt4: Chips or Joan Jett, next Sunday’s burning question…

Here’s more Emma….