When the XX rolled into New York City for the CMJ Music Marathon last month they were one of those bands that would especially relate to the term ‘Marathon.’  On the day that I caught up with them they were set to play three shows.  This was their 3^rd day in New York and they had already graced a few stages.  Sitting in the lobby bar of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, singer Oliver Sim (Co-vocals and Bass) motioned over to a corner behind the bar and said, ‘Tonight we’ll be right there, I think we go on at 1:45am.” Suffice to say that my conversation with Oliver, Romy Madley Croft (Vocals, Guitar), and Jamie Smith (Beats and Noises) was one of many engagements they had that week and I was honored to have the opportunity to talk with them amidst their packed schedule.

The XX have a very minimal pop sound. Romy said that this was as much a function of taste as it was her and Oliver wanting to write music and not having a lot of training on their respective instruments.  They started writing tunes together and then asked Jamie to back them with some beats.   Jamie got an MPC for his 18^th birthday, and while he actually played the drums, he discovered that he could use the MPC for all sorts of sounds and started using that exclusively for the new XX songs. “If you need a harp sound, there, you’ve got your harp sound!”

Lyrics and melody are very distinctive elements to their sound.  Romy and Oliver only sing the words they write.  They’ve been friends since they were little kids so I asked if the lyrics were duets to each other, or if each of them were singing about someone else.  According to Oliver, “Our song-writing is like a collage. It doesn’t have to fit perfectly it’s just looking back through things I’ve written and fitting it in.  But we sing about separate things…they aren’t lyrics to each other.”  They are also lucky enough to have voices that complement each other perfectly.  While neither Romy nor Oliver thought this was anything other than coincidence, Jamie has an interesting theory – one that probably says something bigger about the XX as a whole: “They grew up together so they learned to talk together; I think that’s why their voices fit together.”

They spoke a lot about the UK Garage scene – a scene that has followers here in the States, but couldn’t be accused of being popular (it is in the UK).  Jamie is actually working on some UK Garage remixes to come out as 12” singles later next year (Jamie is also a DJ, who in addition to playing all of the XX gigs had to DJ the Pitchfork party later in the week).  Romy pointed out the comparison between the deep bass tones of Garage and their use of white ear bud destroying sub bass on their record, “Our sound owes a little bit to the low end in UK Garage, I like when the sub bass hits you and you can feel it.”  I noted that yes, I have in fact felt their bass a couple times in my apartment, as had my downstairs neighbor, specifically the first three seconds of ‘Islands.’

When asked about what they’ve been listening to lately and what they grew up (ha, still growing!) listening to, their answers ranged from Jesus and Mary Chain and Bon Iver to Aaliyah and TLC, while Oliver noted that Cherry Coloured Funk by the Cocteau Twins had been on repeat recently.  Talking with this band didn’t feel as though you were speaking with the newest Pitchfork approved, CMJ-lauded, indie powerhouse.  There was no wall surrounding these guys, the kind of blockade I expected to see as their back story includes a label giving them practice space for a good two years before their album came out.

If you haven’t yet, check the XX out at www.myspace.com/thexx

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