-Xiu Xiu’s “Fabulous Muscles” is either genius or terrible.

If you thought nothing good came out of the ‘80s, then this album is not for you. The penchant for the clash of electronics with more traditional instruments rides high on the crashing wave of “Fabulous Muscles.” Openly citing The Smiths and Joy Division as influences does not dispel the sometimes obvious copy but does diffuse it to some extent.

The raw emotion that comes out on “Fabulous Muscles” is a welcome relief. There is an immediacy to the whole album that comes out in the honest lyrics of condemnation — reviving anger in pop music without becoming condescending.

“I can’t wait to tell you your grandpa made your mommy play stripper while your uncle watched,” burns in “Nieces Pieces,” proving the strength that pours out of Jamie Stewart’s off-kilter vocals.

This album will obviously not be for everyone. There are so many different influences pasted together to make “Fabulous Muscles” that it is a collage of everything ignored by mainstream music.

At times awash with dance beats and other times steeped in academic orchestration, Xiu Xiu creates music destined for college radio and doomed from ever finding a place alongside Top 40 artists.

“Fabulous Muscles” is potent stuff, clearly marking itself as an intensely liberal anti-war statement on “Support Our Troops OH!” Sharp static and fuzzy trombones interrupt Stewart’s question on the motivations for shooting off the top of a 4-year-old’s head.

“You shot your grenade launcher into windows and into the doors of people’s houses/ Why should I care if you get killed?” Stewart ends his cry against the double-standards that come out when people ask to “support our troops.”

Xiu Xiu cuts into the heart of emotion and creates an album that marks the first time in years that an artist has stood up and said “this is how I feel” with such force.