The xx

Feel like I'm getting rusty in my old age. In my younger watchdog days, a new band couldn't record a demo without me catching wind about it. Now I feel like I'm constantly late to the party (i.e. Taken By Trees, the Antlers, etc.). Feel free to add the xx to my list. The xx are a group of four twenty year-olds from the UK making minimalist electroish feeling (I say "feeling" because the band, for the most part, works with traditional instruments but constructs songs in such a way as to give an electronic feel) pop with boy-girl trade-off vocals. Really beautiful stuff. Sounds a bit like a depressed Submarines. So worth checking out. If you like one song, you'll like their whole album (self-titled debut out in stores now). Check the song below, and if you dig, head over to hype machine and stream their other stuff ("Islands" is another really great one). The album is perfect for a long solo drive on a crisp and grey autumn day.

the xx :: basic space