you can’t disaffect love- the music of The xx

The xx seem to be pretty hot right now.  They’ve been touring pretty constantly since the release of their album last August, and in addition to playing multiple gigs at SXSW and an outdoor set at Cochella this past weekend, the song “Intro” was featured prominently in an AT&T ad during the Winter Olympics.  I don’t usually go for this type of music, but of all the recent synth-pop bands I’m really taken with this band.  Rather than using electronic music as some sort of trashy hipster gimmick, The xx is actually writing simple yet truly compelling melodies with electronic instruments.  Plus the vocal back and forth between Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim is absolutely adorable, as if the “Grease” soundtrack was reimagined by two pasty, misanthropic British teenagers.  They’re also the first band I’ve seen in a long time that I actually like that look so young they make me feel really old and uncool (isn’t that what good new bands are supposed to do to people in their thirties?)  Here’s them on French television, which also seems very fitting.