An open plea to buy the debut of the year
Hi, I’m David West; I’m 19 years old, I’m a student and I’ve spent the last year of my life pissing away my Gran’s inheritance on alcohol and pizza. Above are The xx, they’re 19 years old and have spent the last year making one of the most important debut albums of the last couple of years. Considering they’re not a lo-fi punk band with not a single chequered shirt to be seen, I’m a bit surprised I like them. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the whole knobbly knee-ed Shoreditch goth look. Luckily their music is like nothing I’ve heard before.
W. Overstreet once said that it was important to "acknowledge the beauty of sparseness". He was talking about autumn but could easily have been talking about The xx. The space within their music is one of their defining features and one of the things that just makes them so special. Bringing a bit of Young Marble Giants into the 21st century was definitely a decision well made. Fuck it.
You would not believe how many times I have written, cursed, rewritten, deleted then came back 3 days later and tried to carry on writing this post. I wasn’t blessed with great use of language and this is my excuse for the shortcomings in this post. I haven’t managed to write anything that comes close to conveying how The xx make me feel. I will not even try. See through the insufferable hype and listen for yourself. This is an instruction, not a piece of advice.
MP3: The xx - VCR
BUY: The xx - The xx CD or 12" vinyl
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