A hearty welcome.
Sometimes bands can pick up a reputation through things that have absolutely nothing to do with their music. Perhaps an interview put you off a band, a really bad name or some hype that really made you think of the band in a negative form. Of course, none of these factors have anything to do with the music and its time for a reappraisal of XX Teens. Yes, it’s a rubbish name but they were forced to change their name due to legal reasons so perhaps its not all their fault. Also, they can hardly be baled for whatever magazines say about them.
They’ve also not been helped by a really bad album title and terrible artwork…but when you get down to the only thing that matters, XX Teens are rather good at it.
Perhaps they have been hamstrung by some of the hype and comparisons that have been labelled on the band, nonetheless it is difficult to listen to ‘Ba (Ba-Ba-Ba)’ and not come away singing ‘New Big Prinz.’ Yes, there are moments where you can see the spectre of Mark E Smith hanging over the XX Teens, more so on ‘My Favourite Hat’ but don’t be fooled into thinking they are one trick ponies.
It’s a sprawling record and a few listens wont do it justice, at first, it’s the noticeable intros and the powerful moments that spring out at you but over time, a lot more subtleties can be found at work here. ‘Only You’ may appear rushed and slight at first but there is an aching and energetic melody at play and it starts to excel in the middle of the record before too long.
Some of the tracks stand out from the rest with ease, like ‘Onkawara’ which has an embracing opening and then a lot more snarl and bite to it than most tracks. Even with repeated listens, the albums feels a bit disjointed and more like a collection of good songs as opposed to a cohesive album. That’s not bad thing, its better to have a disjointed collection of great songs than a cohesive pile of crap so this is no criticism. It’s just that there were a few more moments like the revved up riff from ‘Onkawara’ or the almost Sigue Sigue Sputnik style of some songs, it could be an absolute belter of an album. That said, we’ll just have to settle for it being largely impressive.