After a week long streak of non-stop NYC shows which began on Mark Ronson‘s East Village Radio program last Monday we expect you already know something about The xx and their impeccable timing. Their bare bones alternative pop sound seems to have emerged just as radio rock was truly about to dive off the Williamsburg Bridge and drown in a sea of coldplayesque sound.
It was only their second day in the United States ever. British band mates Oliver Slim and Romy Madley-Croft leaned casually on the bar at Bruer Falls in Brooklyn last Saturday where technically, at only 19 years old, they are not allowed to drink. “Williamsburg is so central!” Oliver exclaimed soberly. “We’re staying just around the corner.” Instantly charmed, I struck up a conversation about their debut album and, more specifically, the possibility of American distribution. The consensus is: to be determined. “We’re hoping to see something happen by October,” Oliver added. Hope is the key word here. I explained, “even Mark Ronson isn’t played on American radio stations.” He understood, “in England, Mark Ronson would be mobbed DJing in a street window.” Then I told him not many Americans really know of (British pop stars du jour) Frankmusik or La Roux. “Maybe that’s for the best,” he replied. The xx are currently gearing up for a Fall US tour with Friendly Fires. Their debut full length album xx is already out on Rough Trade in UK.