And now, CMJ’ers, something from the left end of the musical spectrum — last night a decently sized, but still smaller than it should have been crowd at the Blender Theatre at Gramercy was treated to a set by as out there a band as you are likely to find at what still purports to be a rock festival — the experimental Bay Area trio Xiu Xiu.

The venerable indie label Kill Rock Stars had taken over the Gramercy for the night, for a bill that also included the band Mika Miko, Mary Timoney and Marnie Stern. But KRS saved their most uncompromising for last.

Xiu Xiu play as a three piece, with keyboardist and harmonium player Caralee McElroy focused and serene and percussionist Ches Smith, flailing and banging away like a man possessed. But since its inception the band has really been about Jamie Stewart, as intense a front man as you’re likely to find, certainly this week at CMJ (OK, Deerhunter’s Bradford gives him a run for his money, but in a different way). When Stewart is not singing in a voice that can go from a pained, tentative whisper to a desperate scream, he is shredding guitar, banging on a snare or punctuating emotional points with the smash of a mini-cymbal.

Under shafts of multi colored lights, against a backdrop of trippy projections, not once did Stewart crack a smile, even when giving props to his support acts or declaring his love for his label. But then, Xiu Xiu’s music is dark stuff, generally borne of despair and indignation about the state of Stewart’s world, or the one around all of us. It’s enough to make anyone a serious guy. There are delicate, ambient moments and blistering noise-filled ones. For the better part of an hour, the band on stage at the Gramercy was savage, primal, angst-filled, foreboding, sometimes unsettling, but never tedious and often captivating. Thanks to KRS and CMJ for including in their ranks a band as compelling as Xiu Xiu.

See all of John Norris’ uploads at yourhere.mtv.com…