Submitted by Rohan, who holds some strong opinions about music and wants to share them with TNG readers.

As I’ve said before, I am a sucker for all things lo-fi, but I’m also a sucker for good dance music. So one could only imagine my reaction to a band that pairs the two, right? Neon Indian is just that band, and they are incredible. Not much is known about the group other than it is a duo of a male musician and female video artist from Austin, TX and Brooklyn respectively. Their music is made through “correspondence” much like that mega popular band from 2003, (hint: The Postal Service). Like Geneva Jacuzzi and Ariel Pink, Neon Indian take cues from 70’s and 80’s dance and pop music, but put a lo-fi spin on it giving it a modern yet still accessible quality.

Their new six-song EP, Psychic Chasms, is an enjoyable 17 minutes of pure electronic bliss that fuses dream-pop, lo-fi, disco and psych into a mixture resembling much of the music on the Italians Do it Better label. Opening track “6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)” floats on a steady drum beat complete with almost recognizable vocals resembling a Cut Copy jam without the studio production or expensive equipment. “Local Joke” is a airy mid-tempo jam that is easy to bob along to, much like closer “Mind, Drips.”

First single, “Deadbeat Summer,” is summer jam fusing an Italo Disco beat and extremely catchy chorus, perfect for hazy summer afternoons or backyard bbqs. “Deadbeat Summer” is like a dream, and if the group continues on the same track, their full length will be irresistible. The two minute lament “Should Have Taken Acid With You” begins like MGMT’s “Kids” but suddenly switches to a haze of bouncy synths and lyrics about, well, taking acid and staying up all night.

While Neon Indian is sure to be lumped into the lo-fi boom of 2009, they bring something new and fresh to a scene that is quickly going stale and already ripe with backlash.

Check out their MySpace here: http://www.myspace.com/neonindian.

And look out for their EP dropping at a fine independent record store (or an internet superstore) soon.

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