With Neon Indian, 21-year-old Alan Palomo makes roots-pop music for
the Internet age. He creates with the hands-on imagination of a gamer,
and his sound—including his mostly incomprehensible
vocals—is entirely a product of electronics. Neon Indian is his
third music project, and one of the others, the geek-electro VEGA, is
still very much alive.
Palomo’s sense of song-making for Neon Indian may owe more than he
cares to admit to his father’s brief career as a Mexican pop star.
Psychic Chasms explores a landscape of romantic loss and
betrayal rendered as authentically as any acoustic pop ballad. Still,
the sonic diversity of that landscape stretches, mashes and digs beyond
the known universe.
“Deadbeat Summer” perfectly captures restless hormones captive in
indolent youth. But “Mind, Drips” is as spastic and mechanically
diverse as “6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)” is mysterious and
haunting. The title track mashes what sounds like the tinkle of icicles
into a vinegary instrumental processional. “Local Joke” sets the vocals
in a blurred electronic staccato, then echoes and distorts them, off
the beat a hair. What sounds like fireworks burst and whistle through
the middle section.
Psychic Chasms was released just last month and, with a boost
from Pitchfork, has won instant, viral and well-deserved recognition.
In performance, Palomo’s machinations are augmented with live musicians
and video by Alicia Scardetta.
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.