The XX School of Seven Bells Seaport August 14, 2009 Written by Joshua Williams Photographed by Amy Davidson Opposite Photo: Alejandra Dehaza of School of Seven Bells

Romy Madley Croft of the XX

It was the final show of the summer. It’s amazing how quickly it goes. The final offering was School of Seven Bells, with opener, The XX.

Claudia Dehaza of School of Seven Bells	Benjamin Curtis School of Sven Bells

Well, there’s not all that much to say about The XX. They were okay, a four piece with a drum machine. Problem is, the tempo was kind of middling (which seems to be a problem with drum machine bands, they’re not necessarily made for dynamics and subtlety.) The other problem was they were just boring to look at. Stagecraft is a different animal than songcraft, and the band that masters both has a leg up on the competition.

School of Seven Bells was the headliner for a reason. They were more polished in their craft, and the songwriting was better than that of the opening band. Good, dreamy ephemeral stuff, even though they were another band relying on electronic beats. They had harmonies that the openers wished they could have achieved. This band can easily make money hawking for ads in the future, if they haven’t already.

And the summer was over. I think overall, it was an excellent job by River Rocks. They were not afraid to experiment with the mix, they may have exposed the public to a lot of music and genres that they would never have experienced otherwise. They took risks, those risks mostly paid off, and they deserve and award for their efforts.