The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
16
new
SPILL NEW MUSIC: FOUNDING BUTCHER BABIES VOCALIST CARLA HARVEY DEBUTS MUSIC VIDEO FOR NEW EP TRACK “HELL OR HOLLYWOOD” FEATURING ZAKK WYLDE
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – ALIVE IN THE CATACOMBS
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: XOL MEISSNER – EXCESS OF LOSS
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – PHANTOM ISLAND
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YAWN – WISH I COULD’VE
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NORMAN GREENBAUM – SPIRIT IN THE SKY
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: FERNANDO’S EYES – CENTER OF YOUR WORLD
SPILL NEWS: SOCCER MOMMY RELEASES ‘EVERGREEN (STRIPPED)’ EP | GLOBAL TOUR CONTINUES IN AUSTRALIA, ASIA & NORTH AMERICA
SPILL NEWS: BUSH ENTER “THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” WITH NEW SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO RELEASE | TOUR DATES
SPILL NEWS: YUKON BLONDE ANNOUNCE FRIENDSHIP & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FALL TOUR | TICKETS ON SALE THIS WEEK
SPILL NEW MUSIC: PORTUGAL. THE MAN SURPRISE EP ‘ULU SELECTS VOL #2’ OUT NOW ON KNIK
SPILL NEWS: GEORGIA HARMER ANNOUNCES NEW LP ‘EYE OF THE STORM’ ON ARTS & CRAFTS | SHARES TITLE TRACK & CANADA-USA TOUR DATES
SPILL NEW MUSIC: INDUSTRIAL ROCK ACT 16VOLT’S 1993 DEBUT ‘WISDOM’ LP REISSUED VIA METROPOLIS RECORDS | BRAND NEW ALBUM OUT IN SUMMER 2025
SPILL NEWS: THE DANDY WARHOLS AND KULA SHAKER HIT THE ROAD TOGETHER THIS FALL
SPILL NEW MUSIC: MANTRA OF THE COSMOS TEAM UP WITH NOEL GALLAGHER FOR NEW SINGLE “DOMINO BONES (GETS DANGEROUS)”
SPILL NEWS: RANDY BACHMAN AND BURTON CUMMINGS REUNITING TO PERFORM AS THE GUESS WHO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 23 YEARS ON ROCK LEGENDS CRUISE XIII
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Month
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
1
379
previous article
SPILL MOVIES: NATALIE MERCHANT - PARADISE IS THERE
next article
SPILL TRACK OF THE DAY: THE ROSEVILLE BAND - "WHAT YOU LIVE FOR"

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NEON INDIAN – VEGA INTL. NIGHT SCHOOL

Neon Indian
VEGA INTL. Night School
Mom + Pop Music
RATING

Neon Indian (Alan Palomo) is a man out of time, out of place. In 2015, Palomo remains an anomaly forced to the fringe of success despite pumping out resplendent records like VEGA INTL. Night School, an assemblage of tracks that gathers Giorgio Moroder, Prince, Scritti Politti, dancehall-era Blondie, and maybe even The Police and Depeche Mode for a barroom brawl of contrasting styles and personalities. ‘80s nostalgia most often takes on the veneer of kitsch, as if the decade can’t be admired without a sense of irony. Neon Indian dispels this notion by celebrating the 1980’s artificial soundscape with liberal sampling, pitch shifting, thumping bass and synths, synths, and more synths – my god, he said with a hushed whisper, the synths.

This 51-minute double album (as it’s billed) treats us to a more adult, more risqué Neon Indian than past efforts (the last of which dropped four years ago) even if the veneer of happy fun times clouds the message somewhat. If the Night School moniker is any indication of Palomo’s intentions, the album dutifully follows this thematic assertion. “Smut!” details a ménage à trois in a Chinatown brothel. “Baby’s Eyes” opens with a bit of synth that recalls John Carpenter’s score for Halloween and follows, not coincidentally, someone with murderous intent. In a recent interview Palomo called this album “a screwball comedy about nighttime New York.” And it’s easy to imagine one wild night circa 1984, with Palomo wandering the city streets, euphoric, optimistic, and tripping on cocaine. But of course this wasn’t Palomo’s scene. This is the music he grew up with. The music that embedded in his ear and now spews forth, filtered through 30 years of distance.

The first single from the record, “Annie,” is certified groovy, and, if you’ve listened to indie-oriented radio (XMU or some such) over the last month, an omnipresent staple of DJs everywhere. It might not be the best track on this release, but it’s the most immediately accessible. A head-nodder that gathers your attention and drags you into the slums of Palomo’s mind, hungry for your next fix.

In many ways, VEGA INTL. Night School might be considered too cozy because of these familiarities, but it’s far from a “safe” record. Palomo has less regurgitated than orchestrated a symphony of a million players. There’s almost no end to the layers of sampling, homage, and invention. This might be the soundtrack to the mid ‘80s – when the twilight of genres like post-punk, disco, and funk blended into the invention of modern popular music – or it might just be the ideal soundtrack to the mid 2010s where nobody can quite figure out where the immediate winds of artistic change will take us. Therefore, why not go everywhere at once?

– James David Patrick

Website: neonindian.com
Label Website: momandpopmusic.com

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NEON INDIAN – VEGA INTL. NIGHT SCHOOL

Author

James David Patrick

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
9.5
9.0
Total Spill Rating
9.5
Total Fan Rating
1 rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
alan palomoalbum reviewsmom + pop musicneon indianvega intl. night school
alan palomo, album reviews, mom + pop music, neon indian, vega intl. night school
About the Author
James David Patrick
James David Patrick has a B.A. in film studies from Emory University, an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine. His fiction and non-fiction has appeared in PANK, Monkeybicycle, Squalorly, Specter Lit, and Bartleby Snopes among other wordy magazines. While he does not like to brag (much), he has interviewed Tom Hanks and James Bond and is pretty sure you haven't. He bl-gs about music, movies, and nostalgia at thirtyhertzrumble.com and hosts the Cinema Shame Podcast. James lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
RELATED ARTICLES
alan palomoalbum reviewsmom + pop music
 
Neon Indian

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: NEON INDIAN @ VELVET UNDERGROUND, TORONTO

by Andrew Wu on November 21, 2019
NEON INDIAN @ VELVET UNDERGROUND, TORONTO NOVEMBER 21, 2019 It was a rainy night in Toronto, but that didn’t stop fans from packing the house to watch electronic band Neon Indian at the Velvet Underground. As they are known for their fun and [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – ALIVE IN THE CA...
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: XOL MEISSNER – EXCESS OF LOSS
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – P...
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YAWN – WISH I COULD’VE
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NORMAN GREENBAUM – SPIRIT IN THE SKY
8.0

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Newsletter
  • Premieres
  • SPILL RETRO REVIEWS
  • Track Of The Month
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2024 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL CONTEST: WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE ACTORS AT LEE’S PALACE ON MAY 3!
520
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRYAN FERRY & AMELIA BARRATT – LOOSE TALK
509
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MUMFORD & SONS – RUSHMERE
497
 
SPILL CONTEST: ENTER TO WIN A GWAR PRIZE PACK INCLUDING TICKETS TO SEE THEM LIVE AT HISTORY ON JUNE 9!
486
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DUSTY SPRINGFIELD – LONGING
451
 
SPILL FEATURE: A NEW ERA OF CAR SEAT – A CONVERSATION WITH SETH DALBY, ETHAN IVES & ANDREW KATZ OF CAR SEAT HEADREST
440
 
SPILL CONTEST: WIN A MEET-AND-GREET PACKAGE TO SEE ALESSIA CARA AT ROY THOMSON HALL ON MAY 15!
408
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PETER MURPHY – SILVER SHADE
404
 
SPILL FEATURE: IT JUST FEELS LIKE WE’RE A LITTLE MORE IN CHARGE – A CONVERSATION WITH CRISPIAN MILLS OF KULA SHAKER
383
 
SPILL CONTEST: WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE EBO TAYLOR AT THE CONCERT HALL ON APRIL 13!
349
 
SPILL FEATURE: IN THE MEANTIME – A CONVERSATION WITH JONNY CRAGG OF SPACEHOG
332
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN FOXX – WHEREVER YOU ARE
283
 
SPILL CONTEST: WIN ONE OF TWO PAIRS OF TICKETS TO SEE OMD PERFORM LIVE AT HISTORY IN TORONTO ON JULY 4!
262
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES