Album review: Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
November 2nd, 2009
Neon Indian Psychic Chasms [Lefse]
Alan Palomo is a 21-year-old retro fetishist from Austin, Texas who has some serious nostalgia for a decade he saw only two years of. Palomo is a bit of a moonlighter, previously making up one-third of the Nintendo-loving, glo-fi trio Ghosthustler and currently holding membership in synth adventurists VEGA. And then there is Neon Indian, his mixed-media project with visual artist Alicia Scardetta.
Born out of a missed acid trip with Scardetta, Palomo began Neon Indian when he wrote “Should Have Taken Acid With You” as an apology. Unforeseen at the time, Neon Indian has blossomed into a serious undertaking with the release of his debut album, Psychic Chasms.
While lo-fi has mostly been adorning guitars in its recent reawakening, Palomo uses it as a gossamer lustre for his washed out, synthetic lullabies. Using this cloudy, psychedelic coating, he whips up a cosmic blend of French Touch, videogame soundtracks, muzak, new wave and Balearic pop, with obscure samples and field recordings interspersed throughout. This distinction demonstrates his prowess as a sonic explorer in the same respect as how Ariel Pink fiddles with rock song structures.
“Should Have Taken Acid With You,” for instance, is blissed out and wistful, showing remorse through its incessant synthesizer arpeggios and Palomo’s pensive words. Whereas “Deadbeat Summer” sounds like a waterlogged Cut Copy with hazily reflective vocals emerging from a throng of slippery Italo keyboards and sluggish house beats.
With all of its sense of longing, however, Psychic Chasms is as much a blast from the past as it is concerned with it. “Terminally Chill” channels Daft Punk’s grandest visions and basks in the glow of bouncy, cockeyed synths and scorching guitar flares. The title track, on the other hand, is some textbook dream pop that’s been bent, deformed and augmented with brassy, undulating synths, explosive samples and arena-ready rock drums.
With its introspective themes and idiosyncratic musicality, Psychic Chasms is like a sublime dream come true, only filtered to sound as if it was coming from an old cassette tape, baked from a lifetime lodged into your dashboard.
Rating: A
- Cam Lindsay
Tags: Alan Palomo, Ghosthustler, Lefse, Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms, VEGA
Posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 11:50 am by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
