29 October 2009

They're surprisingly easy to google

People have been telling me for a while now to listen to The xx (and by people I mean "the internet"). But I tend to do what I normally do when barraged with excessive hype - ignore it completely.

However after reading rave reviews of their CMJ shows with nary a drop of backlash, I decided to investigate. I half-heartedly streamed a bunch of tracks via the hype machine, just as background noise while reading my daily blog roll. and you know what, it slowly crept up on me. The sparse synths and breathy male and female vocals, while nothing revolutionary work in perfect gothic, dreamy harmony. It's as slinky and seductive as a little black dress and I'm finding myself wanting to wear their self-titled album quite frequently (ok so maybe that extended metaphor doesn't quite work so well).

Oh and like all buzzy little bands tend to do, they just canceled a handful of European gigs citing exhaustion. Here's hoping they rest up in time for their US trek.

Listen to a few standouts:
Islands - The xx
Crystalised - xx

2 comments:

thom said...

i didn't want to like this band or this album, and also ignored them for a long time. now i can't stop listening to it. you win this time, internet.

Julie said...

my copy came with a sticker. take that, itunes!