NEON INDIAN: PSYCHIC CHASMS

[rating:4]

Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms
Label: Lefse Records
Release Date: October 13, 2009

For all of our collective 80’s obsession, I get the sneaking suspicion that dance music in the Regan era, underground and mainstream wasn’t as rad as we romanticize it to be.

All the various and scattered-to-the-stars special bits from the 80’s have been successfully salvaged though by Alan Palomo, aka Neon Indian. Synths, Keytars, Lasers, Phazers and drum machine sounds all make their way onto the lo-fi cheesy chic Psychic Chasms. The 8-bit blip pop slices are of questionable origin but you can’t help but listen to “Terminally Chill”, “Should Have Taken Acid With You”, “Local Joke” and most every other song on here without hearing traces of Hall & Oates,  Billy Ocean, George Michael and other 80’s offenders but it works.

The reason it works beyond the trendiness of the gimmick, is because it comes from a different place emotionally. Psychic Chasms and its creator Neon Indian, on paper may seem like a shallow, kitschy cash grab but on record, Palomo is genuinely spilling his guts, crying his eyes out, contemplating self-destruction and coming to terms with it all.

Like any great pop album, for the “Certificate of Authenticity,” all you have to do is pull a deep cut like “6699 (I don’t know if you know)” and really listen. Moody. Atmospheric. Boards of Canada-ish.

For every “6699” however, there is a colorful “Should Have Taken Acid With You” or the phenomenally  upbeat and deceptively cheerful ‘Deadbeat Summer”. Both are a blast of Day-Glo sunshine but Summer is well, more summery and Acid has that back-to-school regretfulness written all over it. Even so, all the bits of Spring, Summer and Fall on this album are welcome and in the dead of winter, two things remain true. 1) A little sunshine goes a long way and 2) A cheesy sweater will still keep you warm.

Thanks for both, Neon Indian.

-Casey Bowers