82% – “Damn Good Record.”
Ok, so you’ve heard it, I’ve heard it; it’s been all over the blogosphere lately. The hip thing for the past 3-6 months has been chillwave. You know what I mean, hopefully: indie pop music of the more “laid-back” variety. It was absolutely huge this summer, with its hazy undertones and minimalist grooves. I hadn’t really been interested in a lot of it, mostly because the majority of that particular genre just tends to meander without much purpose or sense of melody.
Surprisingly enough, there is one artist that avoids the ever-so-prevalent trap in indie music of being so avant-garde that it’s incredibly boring. This is Neon Indian, and his debut album Psychic Chasms. It’s an undoubtedly strange affair, but deftly balances between too straightforward and too ostentatious.
At times channeling some of Daft Punk’s mellower side – most evident in the all-too-brief “(If I Knew, I’d Tell You)”, which somehow evokes the French duo’s “Veridis Quo” and “Voyager” simultaneously – Psychic Chasms successfully manages to blend elements of funk, disco, lo-fi, and modern electronic sounds. It sounds delightfully retro and futuristic at the same time. Opener “(AM)” squelches and beeps its way for 25 bizarre seconds, firing off synth laser beams and overdriven modulation with drums and loops pushed to the back of the mix, then launches immediately into the fuzz-funk of “Deadbeat Summer,” which kind of sounds like a downtempo Van She. If one listens hard enough, they can certainly catch the mix of European indie-electro; especially in “Ephemeral Artery,” which almost becomes a borderline house groove, but teasingly never gets there.
The most traditionally pop point of the record is likely “Terminally Chill,” which bops along riding a slow dance beat, incorporates bird chirps, and features tastefully reverberated lead and backing vocals. A close second is lead single “Should Have Taken Acid With You,” whose ambiance sounds exactly like the song would suggest, essentially repeating the same vocal pattern with heavily layered synth washes and a ring modulation mindfuck that sounds like it was created on the Asteroid Belt. With a good pair of headphones on, it’s positively spellbinding.
That isn’t to say there isn’t a drawback or two. “Mind, Drips” lumbers at a super-slow tempo, as if it knows where it wants to go, but doesn’t actually arrive at a destination that’s all too memorable aside from the sonic flourishes. “Psychic Chasms” as a track has some interesting instrumental hooks going on between the verses (and the ending carries a nice twist as well), but could have stood to have its middle cut out by about 30 seconds. At certain points during the second half of the record, it almost becomes too much; songs start to blend together, which could leave the listening wondering where they were in the record. This isn’t all bad, as the art of listening to an album as a whole is dying (as we all know). But call me a stickler: I like knowing which song I’m listening to.
Ultimately, Psychic Chasms should be a crowning achievement for Neon Indian. Most impressive for a debut album, it keeps a decent pace, has some excellent hooks, and only rarely steps over the dreaded “being weird just to be weird” line. Album of the Year? Not quite. But it’ll definitely shake up some Top 10 lists.
DOWNLOADS
Neon Indian – Terminally Chill
Neon Indian – Should Have Taken Acid With You
Neon Indian – Ephemeral Artery
