VEGA INTL. Night School
Alan Palomo’s leap from chillwave poster boy to champion of hedonistic dance-pop has been a bold arc indeed. His third album as Neon Indian is the peppy proof—a neon-tinged blast of saturated synths, fat beats, and relentless pop. It’s all destined for the dance floor, from the funk guitar and rattling percussion of “The Glitzy Hive” to the ska-tinged strut of “Annie” to the flittering arpeggios and ’80s disco drive of “Slumlord.” Palomo plays the perfect host throughout, tailoring the party to his immersive soundtrack.
Here, Alan Palomo delivers the most comprehensive Neon Indian album yet. He's presenting the 51-minute record as a double album and there are interstitial bits to ensure the beat never stops. The production values are higher, and there’s even more of Palomo's queasy pitch-shifting, 16-bit synths, and disembodied samples—more of everything.
In the late ’00s, as a consolation for the disappearance of the monoculture, sentimental indie fans old enough to remember the ’80s got chillwave. Codified and vilified in roughly the same internet moment, it was atmospheric electronic music meant to evoke rec-room sleepovers, rented Nintendo cartridges, cheesy sci-fi…
Skipping down the track list of VEGA INTL Night School is to jump from party to party, scene to scene, on a Saturday night.
Check out our album review of Artist's VEGA INTL. Night School on Rolling Stone.com.
Neon Indian have a top-drawer electro pop record in them, if only they can trim the fat accordingly.
Funk's always been at the heart of Alan Palomo's work. The Neon Indian vanguard may have spent the past six years convincing us he's some sort of psych pop freethinker, but the facts speak for themselves.
Review of 'VEGA INTL. Night School', the new LP by Neon Indian, available October 16 on Mom + Pop Music/Transgressive Records. The lead single is "Slumlord"