Neon Indian has basically remained consistent throughout all their albums and Alan Palomo has been able to pump up the quality of each one immensely. Their debut, Psychic Chasms, was a warm, summery dive into the emergence of chillwave. A few years later, he revealed his second album, Era Extrana, and remained steadfast that their 80s synths and adoration of nostalgia would keep them relevant and true while bringing a new swing to the genre. Now with VEGA INTL. Night School, the production value is top notch, the style is slightly different for the better, and by god is it good.
Palomo and company outdid themselves with this release. The sounds that are created and experimented with throughout the album are odd and fantastic, like the Pan's Labyrinth of new sounds, different from anything we've seen before and extremely memorable. From the distorted saxophone of “Dear Skorpio Magazine” to the Crash Bandicoot-esque electric piano from “Street Level”, it sounds a whole lot funkier than anything that the group has done. Palomo himself does bring an extra ounce of soul to his songs with glitched falsettos and a vocal delivery that sounds like his own take on Jamiroquai.
The flow of this album works incredibly as well. There is great single material to almost all of these songs, but the ones that were picked, “Annie”, “The Glitzy Hive” and “Slumlord” all stick out the most. “Slumlord” in particular has two songs that follow it up so perfectly, it gets points on its own for progressive song placement. “Slumlord's Re-Lease” and “Techno Clique” are offshoots of the single with “Re-Lease” being the bridge between the two. The way it all comes together is nothing short of genius.
The longest track on the album, “Baby's Eyes” breaks up the album well with this distorted yet sensual slow descent into a hazy glow. Every synthesizer is bouncy and the guitar is reminiscent of the quick “chk” of Prince and other 80s pop stars at the time. “C'est La Vie (say the casualties!)” is the Neon Indian that fans would be used to; a call back to Psychic Chasms with treble-increased guitars and bubbly blips of textures spread across the track like globs of jam on a slice of bread. “61 Cygni Ave.” has that Miami Vice/island reggae sound with quick basslines and guitars lining the backbeat instead of front and center. A new-school old-school party anthem. Even the closer, a live bootleg of “News from the Sun” has single potential, and is a pop hit that was a bit more destined for summer.
Listening to “VEGA INTL. Night School” reminds me of the endless nostalgia that we've all grown accustomed to hearing. We listening to music that all uses samples of older, better songs. This album doesn't need samples to keep it alive, it's a homage to that time, not a ripoff that we constantly hear. And that's coming from someone who just recommended a album made up of nothing BUT samples. Neon Indian could've just made something better than Era Extrana in terms of experimentation and consistency and a much better callback to themselves and the era they love.
Hey everyone! I'm Christopher Hopkins, friends call me Oatmeal, and I'm a music reviewer, graphic designer, gamer, and artist. Can't wait to start posting up on here!