Hey kids? Have you heard of Atlanta, Georgia producer Ernest Greene, AKA Washed Out?No? Are you serious dude?! They’re the latest blog buzz act on the block. According to the folks at SPIN, Washed out emanate the sweltering sound of ‘Balearic bliss,’ all woozy synths, 80s percussion, barely audible re-verb drenched vocals.
Except ‘Eyes be Clothes’ the first cut from their album ‘Within and Without’ is more forgettable background muzak, than anything blissful, affecting or even worthy of more than a few minutes of your life. The sound of some lucky kid given the keys to an expensive music studio and caking his bedroom recordings, and half remembered vocalised dreams in endless beds of insignificance.
In fact its the sound of a beard strokey young man attempting to cash in on last year’s fad for chill-wave. A scene characterised by ambient soundscapes, damped down with ultra nonchalant ‘disconnected vocals.’ The problem is ‘Eyes Be Closed’ sounds like a glossy empty, naughties reworking of TOTO’s ‘Africa’ shorn of any of the tune! Save for the unnecessary 90s comedown samples that disgrace the tracks ending minute…
One man’s ‘lush’ and ‘ epic’ is another’s bland and devastatingly over hyped, because if this is best evidence of Washed Up’s new album. Then Washed Out should be renamed Washed Up. The emporer’s new clothes are dressed bermuda shorts and experiencing a come down mannn…
[Rating: 1.5]
