The xx

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• The xx (Band)
• Friendly Fires
• Romy Madley Croft
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The last time The xx was in Seattle, they were opening for the Friendly Fires at Chop Suey. That show sold out, but since then, the British trio’s debut record, xx, has been met with just about unanimous and universal acclaim, and I doubt a club smaller than the Showbox SoDo would fit all their fans these days. Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith are all barely out of their teens, a fact that’s a little hard to believe after listening to the material on xx - carefully measured, muted, and perfectly balanced – not exactly the first qualities you’d attribute to a group of 20-year-olds. That’s not to say that The xx is unwilling to indulge their youthfulness – they’ve named Rihanna and Justin Timberlake among theirr influences and recorded covers of R&B jams by Aaliyah and Ne-Yo. But infused with the band’s pulsing basslines, steady drum machines, and ghostly vocals, even those songs attain the level of quiet sensuality found in their own material. With JJ, Nosaj Thing. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Mon., April 12, 7 p.m., 2010