POP MUSIC REVIEW : Melancholy Melodies From Xymox

The band Xymox hails from the lowlands of Holland, but its music is ensconced firmly on Wuthering Heights.

Virtually everything Xymox played Wednesday night at Club Postnuclear in Laguna Beach was stormy and dark, with lyrics (in English) full of shadows, rain and loneliness. Building an architectural sound out of synth symphonics and glowering guitar textures, the quintet played Bronte-saurus rock that put it solidly within the style of such British melancholics as New Order and the Cure.

Although the finer points of Xymox’s approach were drowned in the murk of the acoustically iffy club, the band had its moments. At its best, Xymox, which plays tonight at the Palace, was able to brighten or energize gloom with snatches of better-than-average melody or passages of powerful, driving instrumental ensemble work. Ronny Moerings’ intoned vocals were gloom-rock generic, but at least they sounded heartfelt.

Xymox would do well to give the spotlight more often to bassist Anke Wolbert. This Teutonic-looking beauty sang only two numbers, but her passionate reading of “7th Time,” full of dread and cries of sadness, was the show’s highlight. Wolbert also sang the band’s new single, “Imagination,” an affirmative love song that is a small pop gem. But the song fell flat in concert because Xymox was unable to render its key harmony hook, which on record features Wolbert’s double-tracked voice.

Xymox’s main, inescapable drawback was its lack of musical and emotional range. A monotonous slate of melancholy gray does not make for a consistently enjoyable show. These brooding Dutchfolk need to get out of the rain, come down from the heath and take time to smell the tulips.