It was a young crowd surrounding me and mouthing along to The xx. I was the only bald patch in sight. It got me thinking about Twilight, the latest vampire franchise. Not that I’ve read the books or even seen the movies. It’s just that based on what I’ve picked up through societal osmosis, I would think Bella Swan would love to sing “I can give it up to someone else’s … touch.” along with Jamie Smith, xx’s co-singer. Or would that be Edward Cullen, the vampire? I hear he’s a touch sensitive.

The xx’s effective stage presentation also contributed to these thoughts. The huge, silhouetted X behind keyboardist Rumy Madley Croft … the band bathed on black … the headlight white lighting: it had the makings of a good horror movie. It also helped to frame XX’s music, which is earnestly gothic. Yes, I heard hints of Young Marble Giants, Portishead and even Chris Isaak, but The xx’s songs have a catchiness that is all their own.

The set began appropriately enough with ‘Intro’. It immediately reminded me of The Cure, a comparison that never returned. While members of The xx and The Cure may share surnames and a soft spot for angst that’s about as far as the comparison goes. The xx’s songs such as ‘VCR’, ‘Islands’ and ‘Basic Space’ feature frugal instrumentation. Up on the Variety Playhouse’s stage Smith’s guitar notes were allowed to ring out, linger and the courtesy of a complete fade. Oliver Sim’s basslines weren’t lines at all: they were beats. The keyboardist in the drummer’s traditional stage spot may have kept himself busy playing ominous tones or electronic percussion out of Joy Division’s ‘The Eternal’, but he did so sparingly.

Sim so strikingly resembled Steven Severin of Siouxise and The Banshees, another bassist of yore, that it made it hard to miss Smith’s likeness to Siouxsie. They have the same broad face, pale complexion and short, jet black hair. But Siouxsie never played guitar and was far more antic on stage. Smith barely moved at all. It was Sim that provided most of the band’s movement when he was not singing. His sole stint at drumming during ‘Fantasy’ was a high point of the show for me. And a perfect outro to the hour long set that included most of the songs from The xx’s only album and two covers.

Sim also served as the band’s spokesman, telling the audience that it was only the third day of The xx’s first U.S. headlining tour. True, their overnight success has been five years in the making, but I knew what he meant when he said “This is so different from our first night in Atlanta.” This was just before ‘Stars’, their single song encore. Only four months earlier The xx had appeared at 529, a miniscule venue in East Atlanta. They had leapfrogged over The Earl (the original location for this concert but moved due to brisk box office sales) and were now capable of selling out The Variety Playhouse (capacity: seated 750, general admission 400 – 1,050). Sim seemed so genuinely astounded by the band’s success that you couldn’t help but like The xx.

The common criticism of The xx – even by those who extol them – is that all the songs share a similar DNA. The songs are all atmospheric and yearning and the same length. They also put the bite on you. One day later and I cannot get The xx’s songs out of my head … so much so that now I’m playing their CD. The xx is my new vampire I guess: they’re keeping me young.

Photos courtesy of Dustin Chambers