For most children, music lessons remain an opportunity to muck about, a break from all that maths and English. At the Elliott school in Putney, south London, they clearly do things differently, since several of its recent alumni are now among pop's avant-garde, with a pair of Mercury prize nominees the most notable: electro-pop outfit Hot Chip, which contains two ex-pupils, and critically adored but reclusive dubstep producer Burial, known to his former teachers as William Bevan.
The idea that Elliott pupils must study "advanced Brian Eno" is lent further credence by the arrival this year of the Xx (pronounced "ex ex"), 2009's buzz band thanks to an enigmatic, self-titled debut that should add to that tally of Mercury nominations next summer. They began life five years ago in the Elliott school's music room with Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, both 15, bashing out cover versions: "The Pixies but with a funky house beat," said singer/guitarist Madley Croft recently.
Such willingness to mess with incongruous ingredients is key to the instant cult appeal of their debut, which is sad, slow and not quite funky, like the Cure playing the songs of R&B super-producer Timbaland. However, their ace is the way Madley Croft and bassist Sim's vocals intertwine, born of early rehearsals in which they sang at the same time because each was too nervous to take the spotlight.
An ability to bottle that intimacy on record marks the Xx out as potentially something special, but it's a delicate asset that's clobbered by the venue. A painfully fashionable "space" with exposed brick work, sepulchral uplighting and B&Q warehouse roof, the ambience is more adventurous art exhibition than gig and you half expect a tray of cutting-edge nibbles to be shoved under your nose at any moment.
They're further hampered by the loss of second guitarist and keyboard player Baria Qureshi to illness three hours before the show, Madley Croft and Sim soldiering on with only their in-house producer, Jamie Smith, tapping away at his drum machine for company.
So while they look quietly charismatic in their baggy black clothes and statement haircuts, they also seem a little lost, at least initially. A lack of stage time might have something to do with it, as this is their first headline tour, but nevertheless it's the halfway mark tonight before the trio bed in and their sparse sound acquires impact. Until then, it simply rumbles in the distance, as if someone is rehearsing next door.
Typically, it's when Madley Croft and Sim turn away from the audience and face each other during "Fantasy" that the required level of emotional intensity is summoned. By the final third, when "Night Time" and "Stars" are reworked until they move with the dynamism of dance music, it's possible to see how the Xx might fill the empty spaces in their tunes and where they may be heading next. It's very early days, in other words, but they're worth sticking with.
