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Who: Washed Out
Location: Columbia, SC
elbo.ws Ranking: #21
Thoughts: When you characterize your music as "no-fi", as Washed Out does on his MySpace page, there should come with that an inherent "I don’t give fuck" attitude that should at some point dampen the tunes you’re coming out with. The music should be carefree and if there’s some outside noises that get tossed in there or mistakes made along the way, well then they tried to warn you didn’t they. Listening to the music of Washed Out there really is no sense of this devil may care attitude, instead what you get are tropical vibe songs that are meticulously put together. Everything is coordinated right down to the simplest of beats, and instead of being "who gives a fuck" it’s "who doesn’t give a fuck". Now I know you’re probably sick and tired of hearing all this crap, no matter how happy the music is you don’t care because you already bought the WAVVES record and that’s enough crappy lo-fi for you. Fine, I understand that completely you can now leave the room. For the rest of you, take a listen to this. Where bands like Wavves and the rest of no-fi contingent made it big on the idea of noise rescuing poor pop songs, Washed Out makes really good pop songs he just doesn’t record them on the best equipment. There’s loads here to like, the way he samples simple hooks, the steady beats that flow from his laptop or wherever, and the gentle voice that coos the words to each song. Everything here breathes like a salty breeze off the perfect ocean and everything comes together like the hazy soundtrack to the best party you’ve ever been to. This is the way no-fi or whatever it actually is should sound. Artists should care, and if they don’t have the money to record it properly then they should be able to turn to their copy of GarageBand, take their time, and come up with something that matters, that people will care about, and most importantly that they care about. Washed Out does all of the above, and if he does it while looking like he doesn’t give a fuck then more power to him.
Verdict: Buzzworthy!
Listen: Washed Out - "Belong"
Washed Out - "Hold Out"
Washed Out - "New Theory"
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