XX Teens – Welcome To Goon Island

• 29th Jul 2008

“Welcome to Goon Island” is the debut release from London quintet XX Teens. Formed at Southend Art School, they have set out to add some depth and Technicolor joy to the musical landscape.

The album starts off promisingly with psychedelic harps of all things which lead up to the marching drums and sharp bass of “The Way We Were”. However at just two minutes into the album they introduce no less than the 4th distinct “sound” in the same track. This is a problem that haunts the whole album.

The next tracks “B-54” and “Round” play around with other sounds like tribal beats and spoken vocals however the results are nothing special. Ba (Ba-Ba Ba) steps up the mark a bit with good structure, great rhythm and some good old fashioned brass.

Unfortunately the majority of this album is directionless, songs go off on tangents never to fulfil their initial promise and the whole album rushes by at a confusing speed. There is a sense XX Teens are just trying a little too hard. Hopefully with some more time and experience they can find their direction as in their few moments of brilliance they are genuinely good.