Band of the Week: Neon Neon

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif./Cardiff, Wales
Fun Fact: The crunktastic track “Trick for Treat” was spontaneously recorded during a party after a Spank Rock show at 4 a.m. in Boom Bip’s home studio.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Indie beatmaster Boom Bip and Super Furry frontman Gruff Rhys combined their artistry to create a concept album about notorious car engineer John DeLorean.
For Fans Of: New Order, Prince, David Bowie, Super Furry Animals

Back in 1985, a certain futuristic-looking car, when properly revved up to 88 miles per hour, had the ability to blast Marty McFly and Doc Brown on a time-traveling expedition back to, well, the future. Fast-forward to the year 2008, and that same winged-door car, or, more importantly, that car’s creator and namesake, John DeLorean, has had a similar affect on the music of Neon Neon, the new collaboration between LA-based producer Boom Bip and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys.

“The ‘80s were really obsessed with the future, and the idea of the future,” Boom Bip says on what shaped the core concept behind the duo’s debut full-length, Stainless Style. “One thing we started looking at [as we explored that idea] were conceptual cars of the ‘80s, and the DeLorean was one that came up.”

Researching the iconic, Back to the Future vehicle led to a fascination with the life of its enigmatic architect—a playboy millionaire whose automobile empire and lavish lifestyle ultimately came to a crashing halt amidst a massive cocaine bust. “It’s an insane life story!” Rhys says. “[Within a week] we had written a whole record about him.”

Stainless Style, which dropped in mid-March via Lex, tells the tale of this tragic figure, from his love affair with Raquel Welsh (“Raquel”) to his use of plastic surgery (“Michael Douglas”) and the conditions in his car factories (“Sweat Shop”) with appropriate retro/futuristic flair. With guest spots from the likes of Har Mar Superstar, Spank Rock, Yo Majesty and the Magic Numbers, the album stirs up an inventive mix of grimey, industrial beats, synth-heavy electro funk and bright, bold pop hooks with flourishes of Italo-disco.

Having first worked together on the song “Do’s and Don’ts,” off of Boom Bip’s Blue Eyed in the Red Room in 2005, the two paired up again in 2006 to work on the Neon Neon project. “[Boom Bip] had an idea for a vocal disco pop album that would be strikingly different to anything he had ever recorded previously,” Rhys says. “I was excited to be asked [to contribute] and approached the project with a similar approach—to try and sing and write lyrics in a way I had never done before.”

After kicking around about 50 names for the group, Boom Bip says he and Rhys felt Neon Neon best encapsulated the ‘80s’ obsessive mentality about the future. He elaborates, “How ridiculous it would be to have a ‘super neon,’ or ‘neon-colored neon.’ An exaggerated form of a color that’s already exaggerated in itself.” Additionally, once the album was completed, there was a “really glossy feel. A bright, shiny feel. We felt [the name] really matched the polished nature of the music.”