Washed Out – Within and Without (2011) [Sub Pop] // Grade: B-

At first Chillwave seems a refreshing oasis in an arid environment. With it’s 1980′s cassette synth drumbeat, Brian Wilson harmonies and twee aesthetics, it is an amalgamation of all things indie. And for a while that worked. Washed Out’s first proper album, Within and Without, doesn’t disappoint. It is chillwave proper. Sadly, it is a huge indication that the genre itself may be wearing thin already. It has always seemed a little gimmicky, cleverly marketed to appeal humble, but hand tailored to please the journos in the blogosphere. This has allowed chillwave to travel by word of mouth, and come off as hip as a clever hairstyle. The problem lies in the fact that anyone can get a haircut, as long as they go to the right barber.

Washed Out (real name Ernest Greene) chose Animal Collective’s producer Ben H. Allen to style his new coiff, and the result is predictable. Fuzzy lo-fi 60′s pop songs over some pretty incredible beats. It looks great at first, but after a few washings it becomes pretty evident that it really is just a haircut.  This is solid, traditional southern indie rock. It is good, but nothing that special.  Like much of what is being grown on the internet, the anticipation is more built with the right amount of viral press. Songs on the album tend to mesh together, which one may argue is part of what make it Chillwave, but it also makes it bland. There is none of that experimental push that made the earlier work of Animal Collective so much more than a carefully played conceit.

This album does have it’s merits though.  It is seems like great music for a long drive, and when they kiddies make their drive from Bushwick back to their homes in Alpena they could do far worse than playing this.

- Nattymari