Jimmy Fallon has become the official late night home of blog buzz bands. Last night, the 2k9 sensation The XX played their hit song ‘Islands’ on his show. Not sure if I like them live, or if I prefer them in MP3 format. Not sure if mainstream American found them to be compelling, or if they are just another ’shit alt band’ 2 them.
From what I understand, popular tween Twilight sensation Kristen Stewart was the ‘headliner’ of the show, so the XX probably got a 40% bump in tween audiences.
Still kinda wonder if The XX are a marketing gimmick for Dos Equis, especially with this ‘beer’ product placement.
Wonder if it was alt to have a bunch of alts in ‘X’ shirts standing behind them. Not sure if they told them to be ‘into’ the music or just to sway in a meaningfully earnest way.
Is Jimmy Fallon the most authentic late night buzz band fan of all time?
Is Jimmy Fallon ‘ruining’ ‘our’ bands?
Is the Jimmy Fallon’s success based on ‘ratings’ or based on ‘blog buzz’?
Will the XX ‘crossover’ after their next album?
Is it time for the XX to generate more content for us 2 judge, or do they deserve 6 more months of cruising off their first album?
Is Jimmy Fallon an authentic tastemaker?
54 comments to “The XX plays Jimmy Fallon.”
March 18th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
more like the ZZ
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//////////Reply by curious
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
@greg, Ha! Double entendre? Like z’s for sleeping and ZZ means ‘dick’ in French slang….
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//////////Reply by \\\\\\\\\\
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
@curious, stfu nobody cares abt any damn francophones bc The War is over
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//////////Reply by curious
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 7:37 am
@\\\\\, au contrare! sous ma bit!!!
March 18th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Jimmy Fallon is a cool bro; makes good jokes for me to laugh to
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//////////Reply by the freewheelin'
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
@andres bro, damning/meaningful
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March 18th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
god damn i love the xx
girl had a little problem with the guitar parts tho
maybe is she was ’sexir’ they’d have more crossover appeal…
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//////////Reply by skybeard
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
@kevbro,
miss the decent chick from the old XX lineup in 2k9 before her nervous breakdown :(
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//////////Reply by greenman!
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
@skybeard, though she was a dude at first glance
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//////////Reply by Pleether
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
@greenman!, totes jackin to the boygirl xtra lrg jaw
//////////Reply by chong
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
@skybeard, i would beat
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March 18th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I always thought the XX was a rip off , of 80’s post punk minimalist music, not there nothing wrong with that.
But they are clearly marketed for little kids. Its like the equivalent of the Jonas brothers but for rich suburbia people with issues.
I see their posters in the local mainstream music store, for months. A lot of money probably even payed under the table to people like CARLOS who owns this blog, to just put it out there, and remind us that this brand exists whether we embrace it or not.
What I don’t like is the covert brainwashing that’s going on. I am ok with brads but, this is clearly something that has been going on for months now, specially with this band, via many blogs. All I see is a lot of profit . Pitchfork ridiculous and arbitrary rating (marketing) strategy.
oh Well
happy not to be so young in such a vicious fucking world
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//////////Reply by andy lincoln
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
@andy lincoln,
also sad for the girl who had a nervous breakdown, probably for all the money they label was going to spend on their exposure.
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//////////Reply by Ryan Shreiber
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
@andy lincoln, It sucks how alternative bands are not allowed to be successful. It’s almost taboo to suggest an ‘alt’ band reaches a substantial level of success based on having good music/strong branding skills. Any band who’s ever reached underground or mainstream success has had good branding strategies themselves and, in cooperation with the people around them, have been successfully marketed. Theres a billion bands in the world and few of them are any better/worse than the rest, but the ones we hear about and the ones that make a mark on the music and/or commercial sphere are the ones who have used effective marketing along with their music. Being good at branding doesn’t make you a shitty band, it makes you more ambitious than the lazy ‘artists’ who feel the admitting to selling themselves loses some sort of ‘itegrity’. The XX write good songs, have an ‘intriguing’ brand, and for those reasons and more (always a bit of luck involved) have reached a pretty comfortable level of critical and commercial success. And I don’t think any money was shelled out to Carlos to write a blog post that suggested they are a marketing meme for Dos Equis. Just sayin.
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//////////Reply by andy lincoln
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
@Ryan Shreiber,
that is a good point,
but for artists you must understand that CONCEPTUALIZATION is essential, and this band does it pretty well it makes it for us , the viewers pretty easy to pick up the codes and understand and differentiate them. But poor judgment that compromises the concept comes along other aspects of branding that are not so carefully thought of specially by publishing companies, such as brand affiliation with day to day products via placements, or scoring a tv add. This is where I disagree as a viewer and I think that the concept gets compromised ergo devaluation the brand that the XX attempt to create. You have both phenomena occurring bands affiliating with local media and selling false necessities using their conceptualizing and insight to promote things that do not make any sense (ejemplo: xx add Olympic meme
there is another trend also, from more established perhaps more “intellectual” or better educated or with smarter publishers that chose not to compromise the BRAND upon a short term basis and not affiliate them with national television, or any type of brand. Its your choice, either being with the local clown on tv, or playing on a museum, its pretty much up for grabs.
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//////////Reply by Mexicant
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
@andy lincoln, word, I also think it’s important to remember that it’s quite possible bands ‘don’t give a fuck’ about what reviewers/members of the music criticismsphere think about them ’selling out’ to corporate/television interests. at the end of the day, it’s still fucking hard to make money as a band and that concept is lost on all of us rabid consumers looking for something ‘pure’ and ‘authentic’. and usually, in the long run, we forget about being so pissed off about _____’s song being used in a fucking _____ advertisement, or playing on jimmy fallon. fuckin hate jimmy fallon.
//////////Reply by chrysler5thavenue
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
@andy lincoln, the music seems kind of dull to me. feel like the branding is the more inspired part of the whole concept.
//////////Reply by teh
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
@Mexicant, agreed, i sometimes think we try to get so close to certain bands without ever even empathizing with or considering the day-to-day decisions these guys have to make to put food on the table in the longterm. then we get all up in arms if they do something that, from the outside, seems like a huge mistake but to them it’s probably a “hey we could make this money grab here and have enough to actually be comfortably for a bit and reap those rewards creatively”. there’s a lot of nuance about these decisions that most music fans dont even consider, and thus we make reckless binary decisions about actions taken by a band. in the end they’re just some dudes trying to make a living being creative.
sonic youth jumped to a major/went mainstream and we still hail them as alt gods. i never saw them being branded in a way that delegitimized them.
//////////Reply by Pleether
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
@Ryan Shreiber, tldr
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March 18th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
How abt not taking so much klonopin b4 the show, guys. And get some sleep. And show some respect for ur elders! pull up those pants!
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March 18th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
i knew the xx were a fake/plastic band as a pair of barbie tits, obvy they r a product a walking advertise for the “dos equis” beer
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//////////Reply by danné
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
@andre, dos equis beer is lighter in color,so no is not an add for beer, if n e thing is an add for androgens
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//////////Reply by monster
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
@danné, there are two kinds of Dos Equis. One is dark. Still though, the beer shown is most likely some type of irish beer. It was a good joke, though
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March 18th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
carles, agree with u 99.98% of the time but the xx is ‘mad legit’ live. they really know how 2 ‘keep it 2gether.’
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March 18th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
A band makes some good shit >> gets blog attention >> gets pitchfork coverage >> does a shitty presentation in kimmel / fallon >> Carles makes a post about it.
The cycle of life
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March 18th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
I don’t understand why everyone has a hard on for the xx… I don’t give a shit about Fallon, or marketing to teenie boppers or what not, I just find their music not listenable. Another one of those bands p4k has a crush on, that I just don’t understand… like Bat for Lashes, She and Him, the list goes on.
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March 18th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
so whiney, go way xx you suck
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March 18th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
The girl from the XX’s pugly face doesn’t match her beautiful voice. Neither does the guy. Can the both just wear masks live? I’ll close my eyes and picture they look like Charlotte Gainsbourg + David Gahan instead.
(superficial of me, I know)
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//////////Reply by \\\\\\\\\\
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
@Lisa, u mean fugly i think?
and no ur not superficial bc it’s true
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//////////Reply by Lisa
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
@\\\\\,
Oh yes she is def fugly.
But also looks like a Pug + Ugly = Pugly. A new breed of fugly. :]
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//////////Reply by chrysler5thavenue
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
@Lisa, feel like her voice is on par w/ her looks
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//////////Reply by teh
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
@Lisa, all indie girl artists have to match my utterly mainstream level view of attractiveness
~~wE’Re So PRogReSSiVe~~
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March 18th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
At least Fallon seems to like them. When AnCo was on Letterman, he hated them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agkn0NybXUQ
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March 18th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
let me guess carlos, you have an unpublished post about how the xx “totes tanked” on fallon and how this means indie is dead. YAWN
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March 18th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
the xx are so four months ago…
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//////////Reply by HeyThatsMyShoe
//////////Posted March 18th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
@Cool Face, Perhaps to people like you.
For me, the xx are so ~8-10 months ago.
‘Relieved’ I’m cooler/more ‘ahead of the curve’ than at least 1 HRO reader. Was ‘anxious’ that I was the uncoolest ‘poster’ in the comments section.
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March 19th, 2010 at 1:05 am
@HeyThatsMyShoe,
9-8 months or so ago, yep.
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//////////Reply by HeyThatsMyShoe
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 1:25 am
@Viv, I ‘did my homework’ and Gorilla vs Bear first posted an XX mp3 on 03/02/2K9. So using ‘math’ I deduce I’ve been ‘on’ The XX for exactly 12 months and 16 days. It’s ’shameful’ that a dude/dudette named ‘Cool Face’ thinks The XX were ’so 4 months ago’: u should rename yourself ‘UnCool Face’ ‘loser’!!! ‘j/k’
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//////////Reply by Memit Nadill
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 1:43 am
@HeyThatsMyShoe, you are a loser j/k
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//////////Reply by Viv
//////////Posted March 20th, 2010 at 1:07 am
@HeyThatsMyShoe, lol yea I my homework 2 and found them in april09 when someone posted their sampler on indie_exchange. No one gave a shit how good Crystalised was when I tried to play it back then. Those same individuals were all about it in Sept tho. TYPICAL. >:]
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March 19th, 2010 at 1:36 am
What the flip? Flip these pseudo str8 edger shirt wearers. Until Fallon releases the footage of Nyoung doin Ps on the G I don’t live a snip.
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March 19th, 2010 at 1:41 am
The thing that The XX have going for them is that their sound is not overproduced. It would be easy to add a bunch of background swell to their emo musings in order to produce a pop hit but that hasn’t happened yet. The fact that their juicy hooks are lo-fi is what makes them relevant. Overproduction will kill their alt sound. They definitely need to come out with at least one new song soon. Can’t wait to see what happens.
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March 19th, 2010 at 4:34 am
Is Jimmy Fallon ‘ruining’ ‘our’ bands? YES HE FUCKING IS :( The xx got raped on the telly not good for anyone :@ :@
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March 19th, 2010 at 5:41 am
appearing on Jimmy Fallons definitely diminishes their brand. Jimmy Fallon = worst late night show on TV
You’re trying too hard Jimmy Fallons, your show is terrible. alts want nothing to do with you, no matter who the musical guest is.
XX were very good though.
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March 19th, 2010 at 7:03 am
hope they play at night at coachella muziq and arts festival. They sound pretty gewd on mp3 format but I’m sure it would equally as neat, if not better, in the live format. In regards 2 talk show hosts, I heard ellen degenres is trying ‘hard’ 2 get ratings frm young successful ‘alternative’ youths via la roux’s recent performance. By ‘alternative’ I mean ghey. That’s pretty alt, right? Also a while back, oprah hosted lady gaga. Too bad her performance was half retarded. I’m soo over gaga. Her new vid is pretty neat, but don’t reely wanna get caught in the wave of obsessive gagaists
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//////////Reply by Viv
//////////Posted March 20th, 2010 at 1:09 am
@alternativity, I think she might have peaked. Or at least be on the verge of doing so.
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March 19th, 2010 at 8:44 am
the xx have really got to be one of the least interesting bands to see live I’ve ever seen. They just stand there, a dude presses some buttons and they mumble. Fucking sucks
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//////////Reply by \\\\\\\\\\
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 10:18 am
@ANCO, ’shoegaze’ yo
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//////////Reply by anonymoose
//////////Posted March 19th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@\\\\\, brown out.
is heroin alt again via cobain/90’s revival?
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March 23rd, 2010 at 9:51 am
too many haters on here. don’t know a good thing when you hear it.
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March 26th, 2010 at 6:20 am
Anybody able/bothered to put this on YouTube? I really want to see it but you can’t watch it in Europe.
You American’s are really mean. ex ex oh
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April 17th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Your kidding right ?
Watch their “performance” on Carson daily
That was the kind of shit that is not tolerated at all in the actual music world. Try playing this at a rehearsal studio and you will get laughed to suicide. Shogazing is fine as long as your on enough drugs and the material is dark
if bjork farted into a megaphone and had a monkey beatbox I guarantee it would outsell whatever this is supposed to be.
I believe the marketing strategy here is to give rich people who dye their pubes black to symbolize their childhood something to listen to in between taking more zoloft and watching reruns of greys anatomy with German subtitles.
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May 27th, 2010 at 12:40 am
if bjork farted into a megaphone and had a monkey beatbox I guarantee it would outsell whatever this is supposed to be.
I believe the marketing strategy here is to give rich people who dye their pubes black to symbolize their childhood something to listen to in between taking more zoloft and watching reruns of greys anatomy with German subtitles.
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June 3rd, 2010 at 3:00 am
I admire their endless support, and endless believing .
If since young age they receive good influence by person they admire, they would have became great people with great vision about work and determination. Even if this person only an entertainer.
I think it’s because they believe that hardwork will be payed off. And this belief come from their Idol, Rain. How many entertainers can cast this strong belief in our world today?
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