The first thing noticed on this collaboration is there is a hopefulness in many of the songs that you wouldn't find in your typical Rilo Kiley album. The first song, "Scissor Runner," has a very snappy pop sound and pleasing harmonies. This light and jaunty sound continues on the second song, "My Pet Snakes," although it might be a more reluctant hopefulness ("I don't believe paradise is lost/ I say this with my fingers crossed"). "Big Wave" is destined to be on the soundtrack of some summer comedy film or heard on a TV commercial with its catchy and friendly chorus. Thankfully, this is not a we're-in-love-so-here's-a-CD-of-sappy-love-songs disc as not all is sunshine and hope on this album. "When Men Are Dreaming" and, to a lesser degree, "Animal" has the somnambulistic sound I more closely associate with Jenny Lewis' music.
Overall, it's a very pleasant album with easy to digest tunes. On a note that pleased me very much, a lot of the country music influenced songs that commonly bog down the Rilo Kiley albums are virtually non-existent on this album, "New York Cartoon" being the only song that would fit into that category. Their sound on this album is more reminiscent of The Hush Sound with their vocal harmonies and lush pop sounds than Rilo Kiley's standard, more subdued fare. It's not an album that I would listen to regularly but I found it as enjoyable as, and in some cases more enjoyable than, the majority of Jenny Lewis' and Johnathan Rice's individual offerings.
Score: 6.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Scissor Runner" and "Big Wave"
The song writing is the real standout from Neon Indian disc. At its best, the part electronic part synth-pop songs are similar to something you'd find from OMD or New Order in their prime. Lyrics of heartbreak or lost chances is offset by the soothing, infectious beats that New Wave artists made popular in the 80's and 90's. The best example of this is the awesomely titled, "Should Have Taken Acid With You." However, the good song writing is severely offset by the poor production of the album. Vocals sound garbled, electronica beats often don't go well with the songs they are paired to, and some of the sound choices just seem awkward ("Psychic Chasms" and "If I Knew, I Would Tell" come to mind). In fact, during "Terminally Chill" the song sounded so off to me that I had to check to make sure iTunes wasn't open and playing another song concurrently with the Neon Indian album.
Overall, there is a ton to love about the writing and composition of the songs but the album is severely hurt by poor sound editing, sound mixing, and post-production work. The techno beats and electronic sounds are especially bad, commonly alternating from a very House-y "beep" and "boop" noises to Detroit Drum & Bass beats without some type of bridge to help ground the sound for us. It's as if you mixed a Fat Boy Slim and Derrick May album together but without finding any commonalities between their music. Did someone think they could just match the catchy electronic hooks of Fat Boy Slim with the thumping beats of Derrick May Detroit sound without actually listening to see if they would work well together? (Hint: they do not.) On a side note, the remixed versions of the songs sound A LOT better than the album version of the songs. Thank goodness I was able to hear those versions otherwise all the cool stuff found in the song writing might have been buried under the horrible production choices made. I can't recommend this album but there is talent to be found underneath a slew of poor post-production decisions.
Score: 5/10 (The actual album probably only deserves a four out of 10 but I gave it a bonus point for the potential the artist showed on it.)
Song(s) to Sample: "Should Have Taken Acid With You"
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