Neon Indian’s second album, Era Extraña, is my surprise album of the year. I checked out his first album a year or so ago after reading so much hype, and although its sounds were intriguing, it was lacking a core, unsure of what it wanted to be. It was the sound of a collage maker with access to many beautiful photos but when put together it just didn’t make any sense. Then I saw him and his band on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show and it was bright, inspired, forward thinking and just incredibly fun. So a second album equals a second chance, and it’s a fantastic change from the first. All of the songs – even though each having their own separate point of reference musically -gel together just perfectly. From one song sounding like Thurston Moore if he had originally picked up a synth, to another that, unlike so many bands that try to imitate the sound of, Mr Indian is able to tap into the soul of My Bloody Valentine and record what is at it’s worse a long lost b-side from the Loveless sessions. And then there are three tracks, right in the middle of the album (Fallout, Era Extraña, and Halogen), that just caps off the fantastic 80’s mood with incredible detail. I feel I could break down every single note in each of these three songs and reference it’s decades old reference points, but put aside the music nerd in you – just listen to it on full blast and soak it in. The synth bass line alone in Halogen, that one little element, is just incredibly wonderful, for me expressing musically all these memories of youth and transports me to a happy memory of my high school years, which like most people, never existed. This albums glows and oozes a magnificent shade of neon from beginning to end, and so if you’re into that sort of thing, go get it!