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!
