Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

This is unexpected: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti has, it would seem, become an influential artist. His sadsack DIY soft-rock – always a little too glib for my tastes –appears to be a key touchstone for not one, but two of the best releases in the past month. The first was Girls’ Album, and now this, Neon Indian’s debut LP, Phsychic Chasms picks up the baton.

Neon Indian is essentially the latest musical identity of Mexican-born, Texas-raised Alan Palomo. His music channels the same sweetly sad, gently stoned nostalgia as Girls, but it doesn’t necessarily sound much like them. While Girls look to Phil Spector and The Beach Boys for inspiration, Palomo is the latest artist to display big love for everyone’s new favourite genre; 1980’s electro-pop.

If awful ‘80s electro-pop and the knowing irony of Ariel Pink aren’t particularly to your liking, then worry not, because this debut has plenty to recommend it. Think of a lo-fi MGMT with Beach House on production duties, and you’re in the right ballpark. Neon Indian shares MGMT’s ability to lock into a groove and their ear for unshakeable pop melodies, as evidenced on '6669 (I don't know if you know)' and 'Should Have Taken Acid With You'. He also has a love for synth notes that drift ever so slightly off-key, as pioneered by Boards of Canada, which always makes this writer weak at the knees. These – coupled with Palomo’s stoned vocals – give the record a deliciously nostalgic, melancholic feel.

The instrumental snippets that stitch together the album are the best moments. Two such pieces bookend the album, but the best is '(If I knew, I’d tell you)', which clocks in at just 0:48, but it’s tantalisingly gorgeous, reminiscent of similarly brief but beautiful interludes on Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children, and as haunting as the best Ghost Box releases.

Accessible and addictive and less than half an hour long, Psychic Chasms repays repeated listening, and leaves you hungry for more. And, at just 21 years old, there should be plenty more to come from Palomo. As Neon Indian, he has produced a little gem that deserves a wide audience to hear it.