http://popwreckoning.com/2009/09/01/xylos-bedrooms/
Allowing
me to be a bit brash for a moment, consider yourself lucky you’re
hearing about this band now, well ahead of all your other friends who
“remembers when” this and that band was hand printing stickers.
Xylos will be your new favorite band.
Xylos, a group that is composed of East Coast darlings, and who recently hit the “Bands To Know”
L Magazine list, introduces themselves with a five song EP. And if you don’t pick it up immediately, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
They call it Bedrooms, but the album art features a skinny
little thing in a bikini standing shy alone on a beach. As one giant 24
minute feast, it plays beautifully and can keep up with your musical
A.D.D.
In fact, there are so many different sounds and influences—Spanish guitar, electronic, world beats,
Jenny Lewis-like
swooning, shakers, auto-tune, heavy and soft acoustic—that it should be
all wrong. Except the approach is so slight and tender, that even those
slow songs come out romantic and whole.
“In The Bedroom” opens with a sticky sweet rhythm and electronic accoutrement, a little like a good
Discovery—in fact, if
Discovery hadn’t overkilled it with such ridiculous vocal manipulation, they would sound as damn good as this
Xylos
tune. It’s not a boring first impression, even though the track carries
much of the same sound, it’s a good sound, and the end hints at drummer
Mike Greenfield’s talent.
If the opener was beachy, “Wrapped In A Page” is a foggy autumn
evening on a porch in the mountains. Still lingering, still bringing
about a newer noise with strings floating throughout. The xylophone and
percussion do a quirky duet leading to an epic verse where dubbing and
boy-girl proclamations give you goosebumps. And although “Yellow Flip
Flops” sounds like a sunny one meant for a walk along Long Beach
Island, we hear birds, some 70s folk, and that Jenny reference I
mentioned (though singer
Nikki Lancy has a better composition to work with). And once again, wait for the end. There’s an impressive solo bout that reminds me of a
Bryan Adams
riff. But pleasantly, not in that condescending, lame way. By the time
“This House We Built” and “Testament” arrives, you’ll understand how
the EP is mood-based, never pinned down with a certain theme or
heartbreak.
The album was a basis for frontman
Eric Zeiler’s
haikus. And hell, if that’s what it takes, plus a group of childhood
friends, a Craigslist post, and talented four (not one) songwriting
minds entangling perfectly together, than expect more genius out of the
English department.
I recently read that the band was so young (let’s hope they throw a
killer one-year anniversary party this month) that they come across as
amazing but raw; that they hadn’t found their sound yet. And I want to
scream as loud as I can that if they change, I walk.
If you need more, like I did, there are some demos available on
MySpace. They also drop their first full-length in the fall, to be
followed with massive touring of the UK and our States. Pay
attention—you’ll want to be front row, and those of you that are
constantly awaiting the newest indie darlings, watch for who they bring
to open.
Bedrooms is available now for free download on the band’s website. Get it
here!