WASHED OUT at the Opera House, Sunday, September 15. Rating: NNN
Washed Out aka Ernest Greene drew major blog attention in 2009 with hazy, lo-fi, electro-pop songs made on a laptop in his bedroom, most commonly described using the now cringe-worthy “chillwave” tag. He’s quickly graduated to filling medium-sized venues, as witnessed by Sunday night’s show at the Opera House. The biggest surprise, though, was how maximal everything sounded.
Flanked by a full band, the guitar solos seared, the drum beats hit hard and overall, the songs from this year’s Paracosm felt more natural than the artist’s early work. The main problem is that while Greene is a talented musician, he’s less adept at writing lyrics, and his droning voice makes the listener feel like hitting the snooze button after awhile. He’s reached a level of success where he could afford to bring vocal collaborators on tour with him – why not someone like Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek (who sings on 2011 debut album Within And Without standout You And I)?
Still, when it came time to play his biggest hit, the whispery Feel It All Around (which casual listeners might recognize as the theme song from the sketch comedy TV series Portlandia), the plethora of slow-dancing couples in the audience didn’t seem to mind.
