When Pitchfork names an under-the-radar band to its Best New Music catalog (this requires a band’s album to have received a rating of 8.0 or higher), careers get made. This became staggeringly evident in 2005 when the previously unknown indie outfit Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah landed on the BNM and subsequently went into heavy rotation on every hipster iPod in the land. Four years later, though, other outlets crowd the indie crit field, tempering Pitchfork's influence, The BNM Boost is still guaranteed -- for better or worse -- to bring a band some new listeners. At least the latest newbies to get the Pitchfork push deserve it. Young, British, new wave revivalists The xx spin the old genre a new way--with R & B stylings. Here's what you need to know about them.

1. Who? Four twentysomethings from London -- two guys, two girls.

2. They’ve got good (musical) genes. The four members met at the The Elliot School, the same music school Hot Chip, Four Tet, and Burial attended.

3. They sound like: The Whitest Boy Alive + Interpol + Marla Hansen / The National = The xx.

4. It's sexy. This is the new Indie Lovemakin' Music record. You heard it here first.

5. They do a mean cover. Check out this cover of Womack and Womack's 1988 single "Teardrops," which was featured on Idolator yesterday, right before Pitchfork threw them the BNM.

6. Three R & B-influenced indie bands makes a trend. Discovery -- the side project between two major indie rock forces (the lead singer of Ra Ra Riot and the keyboardist of Vampire Weekend) was an R & B soaked affair. The Dirty Projectors -- whose Angel Deradoorian guested on Discovery's album -- went big with the R & B influences on June's Bitte Orca, which is going to make plenty of 2009 year-end lists. And now, The xx. TV on the Radio has been doing this since 2004, but now, its time has finally come. R & B is the new indie rock trend. Chamber pop: see ya.

Despite all the times Pitchfork gets it wrong -- and they do -- credit where credit’s due. The xx is great. But don’t take our word for it ... give them a listen, decide for yourselves. No matter what your opinion, expect to hear way more where this came from in the coming months.