Album Review

I just wrote a review of XX Teens’ Welcome to Goon Island for my music blog,, and thought I’d share since I liked this review quite a bit.

The only SFW image of this band… okay well one of few

With a name like XX Teens, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the British post-punk band who released their debut album just a couple of days ago. I couldn’t remember if Safe Search was still enabled, and I certainly didn’t want any h4wt p1x of XXX teenagers. Yikes! R. Kelly was just acquitted of something like that last month. Thankfully, I can assure even our younger readers that XX Teens’ sound is suitable for all sorts of ears.

XX Teens began their music making in 2004, releasing a series of six singles and an EP before finishing their full-length album, Welcome to Goon Island. The physical release of Welcome to Goon Island comes with a free postcard featuring the band that you can send to your friends and spread the word of XX Teens. Normally I don’t talk about an album’s artwork, but WTGI’s is fascinating. Sure it has it’s fair share of disturbing cartoon images including a bare chested blue woman lifting up her yellow tank top or headless bodies playing cards.

Onward to, you know, what they actually sound like. I’m really digging their music, which is apparent as this is the third time I’m listening to the album after discovering it. It melds classic post-punk sounds with a bit of an electronic indie flair.

The Way We Were begins with a Killers-esque “When we were young” type sound but turns to a more upbeat direction. I definitely prefer this song to anything by The Killers. “My favorite Hat” featues a bit of harmonica which always makes me think of Bob Dylan – and this is in a good way, rather than a lame, copy-cat attempt. (See our article on MCR and The Watchman). I haven’t found a favorite track yet, but I intend to keep listening long enough to eventually pick one.

Download 2 Free Tracks From Their CD
< a href=”http://www.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?from=71974&p=EMTL227782.2″>Order the entire Album from Insound