The xx-xx

9 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 16 seconds until 'Roo. But, who's counting.

The xx confused me at first. Well, that's not to say they don't still confuse me; trust me, they do. But I couldn't figure out this band at all when I first heard them. I think I listened to the first few songs on this album in The Disc Exchange one day, and I remember shrugging it off like it was some over-hyped critic fodder. I didn't come back to it until I heard that the band was going to play in town for Big Ears. I gave the album another shot, and I liked it a bit more, but I still couldn't get into the dreamy aura and the floating voices. Fast forward to now. I love this. I really really love this stuff. It's amazing. Now, tell me why that happens? I have no clue. I gave it the same chance all three times, and the first two were strikes. Now, I've been listening to the album non-stop. Frreeaakkyyyyy. In a good way.

The xx are a bunch of super emo hip London school kids who grew up listening to Aaliyah and The Cure, the latter showing much more clearly through their atmospheric dream pop. The kids made a single, and the critique world flipped their wig. They made an album, xx, and lather, rinse, repeat. It got a lot of critical acclaim, and the band has been on a rampant tour across the world ever since.

The album is sleek, sexy, and embracing, but timid. The band has created a sound all to themselves, and they convey it like a hermit crab, poking it's head out with caution and time. The xx create world's to be explored with every reverberating chord structure. Soft and steady mechanical beats churn into listeners head like a droning factory line. While the songs may not present you with different colors, they invoke many shades of gray that are meant to be built with imagination. The album sits comfortably next to Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours in the late-night listening category, and with songs like "Nighttime" and "Stars", The xx seem to be cool with it.

The opening track, despite it's lack of the core vocals, is arguably the best on the album. Appropriatley named, "Intro" is more of a night-mare than a dream, with it's steady repeating guitar line, and dark room-filling chords. The track builds and builds, adding the two lead voices in a monk-like drone and a continually climaxing blend of drums, before all falls down, except the same ominous chords pre-mentioned, leaving a flying sensation unlike any other. It's sensational and effective to the core.

The next track, "VCR", is an emo romance, filled with teen angst, boredom, and poetic meanderings of past love. The dynamic vocal duo of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim is perfect for the spacious tinkering the band plays. The two sing their verses outstandingly well, but together, they form zen, pairing like it is all their lives are meant for. They both have a tone as serene as a gust of wind in the rain, but as dark as the the storm cloud it came from, which is mysteriously brooding yet very likable. The song is beautiful and poetic, pondering, "When I find myself by the sea, In another's company, by the sea. When I go out to the pier, gonna dive and have no fear." This is the kind of song that makes an album great hands down.

Some people would say that The xx's problem is that they sound the exact same, never really diverging from the same tempo and sound, but not all bands have to do this. The xx music doesn't scream that it is bold, and adventurous. It is soft and steady. That is all it needs to be. That being said, not all of the songs on the album maintain their hypnotic brilliance as well as others. "Basic Space" is just that, a basic block of time on the album. It's not bad, but it's not all that good either. "Infinity" suffers from the same disease. But, I could feel differently about both of them with a new listen. That's the beauty in the music. It stirs emotion in different ways with every listen. I may not appreciate the song that well now, but after a dozen listens or so, it could be my favorite. There's a strange power in this ability that draws me back to listen more and more.

If you can't handle songs without smoke and mirrors to keep you interested, then xx is not the album for you. It takes a very dedicated and open minded listener to really appeal here, but if you give it room to work inside your head, The xx will manipulate your moods, hack into your dreams, and stir a strange emotion you can't quite put your finger on. I'm very eager to hear what else the young British band can manage to do with a few bare instruments, soothing vocal ability, and an yearning to spread their bleak hearts through more of their beautiful music.