What I heard when I listened to 'Psychic Chasms' was so not what I was expecting. Knowing nothing about Neon Indian and having been passed the recommendation by a Noise-loving friend, I took one look at the cover art and immediately assumed that this was a Health-esque band that I would be able to locate flashes of genius in but would basically find myself sounding like my gran and wondering whether the relentless walls of noise were actually music.
The intro - (AM) - was a bit of a clue that my assumption may have been misdirected but the 25 second track ends in a fuzz of noise which left me unconvinced. So I was pretty darn surprised on the opening of Deadbeat Summer to find myself listening to Sebastien Tellier-esque lazy lothario disco beats with dishevelled, sunny samples and upbeat synths. The aural equivalent of a Sex On The Beach cocktail. With an umbrella.
The unashamedly corny, cartoon soundtrack nature of the music continues through the track Laughing Gas which sounds for all the world like Daft Punk's younger, goofy brother making lo-fi music in a haze of Moroccan Black. Terminally Chill seems to have been composed with the Gameboy in mind and Mind Drips is just soaked with 80s drums and 'psychedelic' samples, a wonderful messy mix. The brain behind the music is twenty-one year old Alan Palomo, a Texan raised Mexican with a relentless thirst for music production. Neon Indian is his third incarnation in two years alongside the rather less successful Ghosthustler and VEGA and it seems that with this one he's struck gold.
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