Oh dear God...Washed Out's debut album, Within & Without, is easily one of the best records of 2011. This one man band has so successfully channeled the ghost of Ride that you would swear you were listening to some modernized version of Going Blank Again. Pretty much defining what epic means, Washed Out have reached for the stars and gone beyond them with Within & Without.
If Within & Without were any better, it would teleport back to Alan McGhee's office circa 1993 and demand to be signed to Creation Records. No other band this year has tapped into the post-shoegazing gazing craze like this band. And while the electronics and production sound a bit better than that era, this is a record clearly wearing its heart on its sleeves and making no bones about it. I love this record; it's washes of guitars, it's strung out vocals, and danceable beats hypnotize and have their way with you until you're hooked. The songs are ridiculously good and so lost in the miasma they may never find their way out and that's ok...you'll want to be lost in there as well.
18 years since shoegazing ruled British pop it’s nice to know that there's a whole new generation of kids out there who have realized that bands like Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and the like were simply amazing. Washed Out clearly has realized this and pay tribute to their forefathers with one of the most incredible albums of 2011 in Within & Without.
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