The XX

Played some of these (three songs actually: hold on, replica and say something loving) early at a big event of 400 people in one of my bars today. Noone seemed to mind but noone seemed impressed either or came by to ask what I was playing - I played the new Jens Lekman song, as a contrast, and two different guys asked me what it was. When I play something off the debut every now and then (favorite plays are 'intro' 'Islands' or 'Shelter') I still get people asking me about them. My point is that these songs don't seem to bother anyone but they also fail to generare interest in newcomers.

Nothing particularly interesting in my post just wanted to share my social experiments with these songs so far.

The use of David Lang on Lips is so great.

Say Something Loving is so easily the best thing they've ever done it's not even funny. i don't usually like them much but that's amazing.

yeh i've had that song stuck in my head for days

The final track is not particularly memorable or developed but as an atmospheric piece to close the album, it's fine (funny that in the quietus review that generally destroyed the album, that final track is one of the few salvable tracks...).
http://thequietus.com/articles/21551-the-xx-i-see-you-review

so, the only track I don't particularly like now is "Dangerous". I skip it most of the times.
It's ok and not a dud though. a kind of club banger. maybe I'll warm up to it later.
All the rest is good or, mostly, great.

Dangerous felt a little clunky at first but it's grown on me

Loving the closing one-two hit of Dare You / Test Me

Say Something Loving is so easily the best thing they've ever done it's not even funny. i don't usually like them much but that's amazing.

I think the first thing that hit me on the album was the "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know" part. so good.
There are so many little touches and beautiful moments on the record.
And the funny thing is that I don't even like the male singer's voice ! he's pretty poor, borderline incompetent and out of place on an otherwise beautifully crafted record.

Loving the closing one-two hit of Dare You / Test Me

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx)

I kind of dismissed these guys back in the day, but stumbled upon it this morning and it's damn near prefect for what I was after (the first album). Was Graham Sutton anything to do with it? It might just be the limpid guitar lines, but it's really reminding me of Bark Psychosis.

I quite liked the debut and thought the second album had its moments, but I can't hear anything good in this at all. Imo their voices feel unbelievably grating now and the melodies beyond generic. I really don't get it, which I was not expecting based on all the hype.

this new album sucks

I'm not invested in this album one way or the other ('Performance' and 'Replica' have really nice hooks, but a lot of these sound too much like they were made to be on a Grey's Anatomy episode), but it's an interesting Rorschach test.

I'm at the point where I am actively offended by yet another album of 80s synth pop sounds

Was in a hipsterish bar on Saturday working/writing. They put on the new album, which had given me little pleasure listening to it on my own, but there it worked. Everyone was enjoying it. I saw an odd group of twelve 60+ year olds who'd just come from the theater tapping their feet to it and making things among themselves less awkars. And I enjoyed hearing it in a social setting way more than alone at home, too.

Moka, your crowd is prob too cool for school :)

I'm at the point where I am actively offended by yet another album of 80s synth pop sounds

I'm not hearing much 80s synth pop in here at all? Lot of other bands have exhausted that well but this all sounds pretty new and fresh to me

honestly my first point of comparison was the Thompson Twins

initial reaction, whatever

"I Dare You" has a similar beat to Chromatics "The Page"

Nearly all of it sounds like 80's post-punk to me. Even the ones that also sounds 100% like post-dubstep indie-rock, samples pop and neo-classical, or sounds more like r'n'b. I think it's impressive.

LBI: Hahaha yeah probably. It helps having three different sorts of bars to test music socially it's fun. Of course the XX seem more fitting for restaurants or cafes than a bar.

Someone requested a spotify playlist. It's a private collaborative playlist so if I'm not around and someone wants to edit feel free to do so.

https://open.spotify.com/user/moteldemoka/playlist/18mDKKVGcU8NMzOqiZfho5

oops wrong thread

i've always found this band a slog at album length, but there are some nice moments. not 80s

The only tune which inspires nothing has no eighties signifiers: "Brave For You," and it reminds me of the pretty, vacant stasis of Beach House.

ugh no, Beach House are imperial, suspended in the ether, whereas "Brave for You" is much more mundane and self absorbed (and I feel a bit shitty knowing its origin, but I like what I like).

Have yet to hear the album but I read the Pitchfork profile where they mentioned they will be doing a mashup of Shelter and Gosh on their tour, which is hard to imagine sounding good

https://youtu.be/GfuNovSeCiw they did the Shelter/Gosh mashup on a radio session and yeah it doesn't work that well. the Night Time/Swept Away/Shelter medley they were doing last tour worked much better

you may not like it, but "Brave For You" is an extremely obvious Beach House rip

As I anticipated, I now like all the songs (although I could do without "Dangerous" and start the album directly with the 1-2-3 punch "Say Something Loving"/"Lips"/"Violent Noise".
"Performance" is a kind of closing song midway, like "Test Me" for the other half (and the whole album). Both songs follow 4 more upbeat songs.
It's a great album with mostly great songs.
That said, my only criticism may be that it's a bit slight and lacks some depth.
There's a feeling of listening to a compilation of great tracks more than a cohesive whole.

i like the length

yeah, me too, the length is not a problem.
It's one of the rare albums that I don't find too long !
But I don't know, there's something unsatisfactory about it.

Oh no no -- I want short albums, the shorter the better

anywhere ~30 mins for my drive to and from work is good for me haha

ah yeah, I think my ideal album would be around 10 tracks and 40min !

when I see something with 17 tracks over 80min, I cringe.
The 90s were a nightmare for me !

Number None my apologies, I stuck out as much of Brave for You as I could stand and agree it's lifting from Beach House. RMS's voice is so unsuited to the form though.

Great remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eIYIqcqtqw

i totally forgot this album came out already

Best album too.

not many summer jamz on it tho

"I Dare You," "Replica."

I'd include "Dangerous" too

summer jam mileage may vary

seeing them in ~1 month at Roskilde Festival, curious aabt what mood they'll inspire

I Dare You is such an arena banger

They were incredible in Montréal last night. The warm evening outdoors setting suited them perfectly. They seemed to really be enjoying themselves too. Highlights for me were a Pornography'd version of "Crystalised", Romy doing "Performance" solo, a dance remix of "Shelter", and "Loud Places" from Jamie's album.

'I Dare You' is such a fantastic song. It's buried in the album's sequence, but it's probably the highlight of the record for me.

Saw pictures of Romy on Instagram wearing a jacket that said "Romantic for So Long" on the back and it gave me just a hint of goosebumps.

Good stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUnNLJnAgSn/

ok yeah, now that i'm coming back to this, this is pretty damn good. seconding everyone who mentioned "I Dare You," what a track.

I Dare You lovers, rejoice http://www.spin.com/2017/06/the-xx-i-dare-you-video-millie-bobby-brown/