I first heard The XX’s debut album xx playing in Barnes & Noble (where I work). I immediately bought it.

The band is fronted by singer-guitarist Romy Madley Croft and singer-bassist Oliver Sim, who sing  lust-filled songs of superficial romances and half-hearted promises of love. In the group’s most pop-driven song they sing “We watch things on VCRs. With the millions talk about big love. I think we’re super stars. You say you think we are the best thing.” Such lyrics can misfire and make one giggle, but Croft and Sim know how to deliver with such earnest tones and suggestive subtext that the world in which their songs live is never put into question.

What makes this all the more remarkable is the members created the band merely five years ago….when they were Freshmen in high school. Their album came out last year……when they were only nineteen years old. Already touring the world with the confidence and talent of a group much older than them, they are making an appearance at SXSW and Coachella, two of the biggest music festivals of the year.

(Editor’s note: upcoming tour dates are available on their MySpace page.)