The latest chillwave artist to play down chillwave tropes on a 2011 follow-up, Ernest Greene buffs some of the lo-fi imperfections out of his sound on his first full-length as Washed Out, Within and Without, opting instead for a cleaner (if still spacey) homage to '80s synth-pop. There's a real elegance to these songs, even if the album's more spruced-up aesthetic isn't as immediately striking as the Rorschach-blot blur of Washed Out's first EPs.
Fiery Furnaces singer Eleanor Friedberger vacations away from that band's funhouse on her more toned-down, song-driven solo debut Last Summer, and it's a welcome respite.
Sublime With Rome's laid-back first album, Yours Truly, is mostly faithful to Sublime's ska/reggae/hip-hop/punk formula, but not Bradley Nowell's songwriting. Where the late Nowell contrasted peppy sounds with his squalid accounts of being broke and drug addled, Nowell soundalike Rome Ramirez never risks the good vibes with subject matter loftier than amazing trips and girl chasing.
One of last summer's most inescapable hits, “Teach Me How to Dougie,” finally gets an album release on Cali Swag District's debut album The Kickback. We can all agree this one's hitting stores a little late, right?
Also out this week:
Alkaline Trio - Damnesia
Blake Shelton – Red River Blue
Colbie Caillat – All of You
Incubus – If Not Now, When?
MellowHype – Blackenedwhite
The Cool Kids – When Fish Ride Bicycles
Theory of a Deadman – The Truth Is…
William Elliot Whitmore – Field Songs
Yes – Fly From Here
