Washed Out - All I Know

Washed Out played a sold-out show at Fortune Sound Club this past Tuesday. Washed Out is a band created by Ernest Greene, from Athens, Georgia that specializes in the drowsy, distorted dance-pop that bloggers dubbed "chillwave". He started out making recordings in his bedroom at his parents' house and caught some major attention from those same noteworthy bloggers that began sharing his myspace music. Alongside peers such as Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, and local upstart Teen Daze, Washed Out has been at the forefront of this easy-listening and mellow yet danceable genre for the past 4 years.

Before I arrived at the venue I was trying to figure out how he would perform. Knowing that Greene does his own vocals I figured it would be pretty hard to sing and DJ at the same time, especially with the vocals being so distorted. It turned out that I was completely wrong as he performed with a full 5-piece band and played everything live. This turned out to be most excellent as they were able to make the songs much more upbeat and full of life while still sounding very similar to the solo-made recordings.

Washed Out played a great mix of their three most prominent records, 2010's excellent EP Life Of Leisure, 2011's major label debut Within And Without and this year's brilliant Paracosm. Opening with the first single from the latter album, "It All Feels Right" the band sounded incredible, the lights were wonderfully trippy and colourful, and Greene was great as a frontman, engaging with the crowd a lot and really letting loose on his vocals, something he has shied away from in the past due to shyness and thinking that he didn't have a good voice. Other highlights included an even more upbeat and rockin' "Get Up", an even more chilled out and subdued "Feel It All Around", and the sublime "Amor Fati" which was the set closer and my personal fave. The above song was played near the end of the set and sounded beautiful with the band nailing the intricate percussion and synth layerings. The entire crowd was digging it, bobbing along to the catchy chorus. If you've never listened to Washed Out I'd highly recommend it the next time you're relaxing, especially outdoors.

I was only able to catch the final few songs from opening band HAERTS. The Brooklyn crew have been one of the year's most buzzed bands with only two tracks available online and their debut album slated for release later this month. I didn't get to hear either of those songs, "All The Days" and "Wings" but they are both incredible and have been on repeat ever since I heard them. Lead singer Nini Fabi has incredible pipes and the rest of the band play superb indie-pop. This is one of those bands that has the potential to become even bigger than the band they opened for. I am very excited to follow their career.

HAERTS - Wings

The instant I heard this song I absolutely loved it. Fabi's emotive singing is gorgeous, especially when she hits those high, sustained notes. The video is really cool too, showing ordinary people and using a cool flying camera. Be sure to check out "All The Days" (their only other song on YouTube) as well, but beware: you will be listening to it nonstop for the rest of the week.