Better Elevator Music

Neon Indian is Alan Palomo of Mexico expressing his inner ‘80s alter ego into popular music.  Palomo had been involved in two other projects prior to forming Neon Indian, but with the success he has had with Neon Indian he has not revisited those projects.  Palomo’s interest in popular music stems from his father who was a minor pop star in Mexico in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.  He has primarily set up shop in Denton, Texas now, but with the popularity of Psychic Chasms, he travels a lot more.

Psychic Chasms kind of came out of nowhere in 2009.  Sure, there have been other artists that had released material in a similar vein, but Palomo was able to harness the music and accompany it with lyrics that were simple yet thoughtful.  Psychic Chasms is the subject of this entry.

#179 – Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms (Metascore = 85)

Psychic Chasms sounds like someone took a DeLorean back to October 25, 1982, stole a couple of records off the shelves in the new wave section (or whatever it was called then), and came back to sample them.  Perhaps that’s exactly what Palomo did, because a lot of the music has this mid-80s teen movie vibe to it.  Most of his work uses samples from other records, but he also incorporates synthesizers and other instruments into the mix.  There are a lot of random noises and sounds throughout the record.

Lyrically it is simple yet thoughtful, even appropriate given the nature of the music.  Like Sleigh Bells, reading the lyrics puts you in a teenage dream.  These songs are about love and experiences and fun, stuff that would fit in well with a Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles movie, just updated with modern technology.  What I like about the songs is that they are very hypnotic.  The album is short, too; you blink and it’s over.  And I don’t find that to be a bad thing either; Palomo doesn’t dwell on the novelty for too long.

While there are some positive qualities here, the album is not one of the best records I have heard.  I think it is a fascinating retelling of that timeless era of pop, but eventually the novelty wears off.  While Palomo does try to transcend this, I don’t think there’s enough there to warrant an 85 Metascore.  I think a low 80s score would have been more appropriate.