Washed Out Cause A Paracosm

A few years ago, Washed Out was pretty much hailed as the savior of shoegazing. Their debut album was a slice of perfection that was clearly rooted in the past but modernized for everyone’s convenience. It was in my Top 10 for 2011 and it was a stunning statement that shoegazing was alive and well. Two years later and Washed Out have returned with their latest record, Paracosm as could be expected it’s not a let down.

Sophomore slump be damned, Paracosm, is a continuation of the exploration of sound that Washed Out embarked upon back in 2011. Much like Chapterhouse’s second album, Paracosm doesn’t quite have the same level of awe as their debut but it’s still worthy. While not as distorted and, um, washed out Paracosm is ethereal and textural and at times approaches Cocteau Twins levels of gaseousness. The record is packed to the gills with gorgeous riffs and sounds that envelope you in a cascading wave of beauty. Paracosm is the sort of record it’s easy to get lost in, wander around for a bit and never find a way out of. This album is a dream committed to sound and recorded in a sleep experiment in heaven.

Continually inspiration and gauzy, Paracosm is another impressive effort whose impact isn't immediate but rather more subtle. Washed Out is a master scientist who has studied everything folks like Robin Guthrie have done in an effort to perfect it and build off of. They’re getting close to achieving the perfect shoegazing record and it’s simply amazing to listen to them try. Essential stuff.

Lets Get Washed Out

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.