Neon Indian
VEGA INTL. Night School
In the four long years since Alan Palomo released Era Extraña, he was apparently trapped in a Caribbean resort hotel bar...and not an expensive one--constantly being made to listen to worst that post-disco 80's tropicalia had to offer.
The influences of the "punk is dead" movement headlined by Prince, Blondie, and the Police, are so overtly present that Palomo might as well be beating you in the face with a neon strobe light--a fact only made more patently obvious by the Refn-esque cover photo, complete with faux-Japanese-import sidelight.
But don't worry, the overabundance of quasi-reggae influence by no means clouds the fact that this is most definitely a Neon Indian production. Night School is full of that signature gauzy, lo-fi sound Palomo pioneered on Psychic Chasms all those years ago (six...it was six years ago), as well as plenty of delicious bass grooves to keep your Debbie Harry-themed nightclub idea stocked for several spins.
As has become a niche for Palomo, it is the little semi-songs between larger moments that are used to great effect here. Intro "Hit Parade" expertly samples New Order and really sets the tone for the next 50 minutes, while "Slumlord Re-lease" almost tops its parent, and the fantastic "Bozo" is a schizophrenic mess with a beat to die for.
And while Palomo has been shelling out "Annie" to any late night show that will listen (it is the best example of the new sound), the real masterpiece here is the single "Slumlord," with its Vangelis-via-John Carpenter intro that slowly, but delightfully, builds into a chiptune fresco painted by a chillwave Rembrandt. The song is so good, it's chorus of "it goes on and / on and..." is practically begging you to make it do the same.
So, if you've been looking for a party album that makes all the attendees think they have cotton in their ears, Neon Indian has got something for you--an italo-disco soundtrack for that one great 80's detective movie. You know the one I mean.
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