Album Review: Washed Out- Paracosm

Well, of course the easy joke to make here is “Washed Out is all washed up.”

But let’s see if I can top that.

Of all the acts that came out of the late 2009-10 boom that were “riding the chilliest wave,” Washed Out and Toro Y Moi were both the breakout stars of a theoretical genre that has gone on to mean, like most labels, absolutely nothing.

Capitalizing on Internet buzz after releasing two subsequent EPs in 2009—one of which was a cassette, main-Washed bro Ernest Greene made the surprising move of signing to Sub Pop—a label primarily known for not riding the chilliest of waves. His official debut full length, Within and Without, landed him in the top 30 of the Billboard 200 chart.

Greene is back with the follow up, Paracosm. While expanding to a slightly more organic sound—in the studio, it’s all still Greene, though now he requires a live band when touring—Paracosm is still a Washed Out record, just with more instrumentation.

Structured around vintage resonances, but still incredibly contemporary sounding, Paracosm, much like Within and Without, is a musical attempt to merge the early days of electronic music with a modern aesthetic. The real problem though is that this record really has no soul to it—to me, it’s all pretty surface level stuff going on here.

But maybe that’s just the cynic in me. Maybe there are people who will find truth or some kind of deeper meaning when they hear this. To me, it sounds like hipster dinner party music—nearly ever song conjures up the same vibe: attractive and interesting young people, dressed like Urban Outfitters models, having a rooftop party in some major city (NYC, Chicago), Instagramming every photo they take, and drinking PBRs because that’s what you do. Maybe I’m just making a huge, unfair generalization though.

The first single, “It All Feels Right,” does the best job of grabbing onto those generalizations and never letting go. It also is one of the few songs on the record where Ernest Greene attempts to trick you into believing Washed Out is a “band” in the traditional sense. The title track, and “Falling Back” also pull this—songs constructed around the façade that like four or five people in a recording studio are just rockin’ out. But really, it’s just one dude from Georgia with a bunch of keyboards and a nice computer.

“It All Feels Right” also included a little in-joke wink to those are aware that Washed Out is responsible for the theme music used on the much loved television show “Portlandia”—he pretty much recycles percussive fill “Feel it All Around.” And hell, just look at that. The title is practically recycled. He certainly wants you to feel something here.

While music like this—cough cough, Chillwave—has always been kind of hazy, codeine glazed dance music; the pacing of Paracosm is just so damn slow. There is barely any energy throughout the course of the album. In sitting here, listening to it, I could feel myself starting to nod off.

That’s the kind of reaction I expect from someone like Norah Jones. Not from something as hip and cool and interesting as Washed Out.

As a theoretical genre, “chillwave” has come and gone—the other frontrunner from the early days, Toro Y Moi—once just one dude, now expanded to accommodate live settings—has pretty much shred any chill evidence, switching it up on his last two LPs for a modern funk sound.

(my wife's interpretation of "chillwave," drawn on her mobile phone two years ago.)

Each subsequent Washed Out LP will certainly move Greene farther away from his original sound—production wise, this does employ many of the chillwave tricks—but when it’s thrust upon a very non-chillwave sound, it seems a little out of place and disorienting.

Ernest Greene is not a terrible performer, and Washed Out is certainly not a terrible band. People love the shit out of this kind of music. Paracosm, as a record, just isn’t special. There is nothing memorable about it, and it, like so many other records that are just shat out one after another, is just so temporary sounding. I’m not saying that I only listen to music that is going to change the world and last forever. But what I’m saying is that I am fairly confident that no one will ever say, “Man, that Washed Out album changed my life.”

If you ride chill waves, Paracosm is out on Tuesday, August 13th, via Sub Pop Records.