The xx is a band that you reflexively want to dislike based solely on age: the group formed just last year, when its four members were still in high school. Yet this quartet of English indie rockers is quickly winning listeners and critics over with an excellent debut that has catapulted them to the top of early year-end best-of lists.

Background Check:

The xx manages to pull off something rare on their 2009-released debut: coalesce their disparate influences – pop, indie rock, electronica – into a cohesive whole that is neither derivative nor over-the-top. The music is understated and pared-down, filled with groovy bass lines and reverb-y guitar leads coupled with exceptional and complementary boy/girl vocals.

The group combines traditional elements like drums, bass, keys, guitars and voices in both familiar and new ways to deliver a languid, dreamy album that digs into your brain with each successive listen. Add in a few programmed beats and some tasteful percussion and the resulting artifact is a moody, often pensive group of modern love songs that incorporates the best bits of great bands like The Cocteau Twins, Love and Rockets, and Yo La Tengo.

The xx is currently on a world-wide tour that will span the next several months. Here’s hoping they will be able to maintain momentum and come out the other side with a batch of brand new songs to lay on us.

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

The XX.com

MySpace

On Tour:

JamBase