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What’s left to say about Neon Indian’s Psychic Chasms? Do a quick google search for something like “It’s high time someone shed some proper love on the 80s” and you’ll be up to your waist in “Best New Music” and FADER boners in .00001 seconds. Ask your older brother what the next big song is and (depending on your family) you’ll likely be accepting an aim file transfer for “Empire State of Mind” with a “Terminally Chill” B-side. Yeah, Neon Indian blew up. And rightly so: with Alan Palomo (of VEGA) at the helm, the band charted a commendable course through a bygone era. But, hey, you knew they were from Austin, right?
Let’s get one thing straight: it doesn’t take a degree in musicology to realize Psychic Chasms isn’t the typical mindless-nostalgia album you’d expect from all the “80s psych” tags the band gets (though according to my internet, Palomo’s father more or less had an honorary PhD in 80s-ish spanish-language pop music). Give the album a quick once over - it’ll take you about half-an-hour actually - and those cheesy sounds-of-the-80s will fast grow into the terribly honest and unresolved emotions that buoyed both the music and lyrics onto an internet wave of fame. Unlike so many awful second-cousins of the genre, the nostalgia factor is neither Psychic Chasms’ main support, nor its crutch; instead we have honest emotional inspiration filtered through its thematic musical compliment. If you haven’t read the thousands of blog posts that explicate this same exact point, often in more detail, it might be time to upgrade your dial-up connection (or listen to the album).
Yet in all of this recent fame, it’s rare to come across a nod to Neon Indian’s (and their counterpart, VEGA’s) current homestead, Austin, Texas, unless it’s a Daily Texan article. Palomo set up shop in our humble township after dissolving Denton-based Ghosthustler, and his manager, Danny “Still Nerdy in a Leather Jacket” Carissimi, is a UT senior with a typical sob story about juggling the taxing lifestyle of the rich and famous with UT’s new plus-minus grading system (ask him about it at Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend). Still, when Neon Indian record their “Live at Budokan” album, don’t expect an “All the way from Austin, Texas” introduction.
So why no love, Neon Indian? In your haste to pack light for the early morning super-express to the limelight, did you forget the obligatory “Hi, How Are You” guitar case bumper-sticker? Somewhere in East Texas Daniel Johnston is missing out on some serious royalties. Or maybe it’s the fact that neither Neon Indian nor VEGA have much of a home to point back at: despite our hardly-exaggerated status as the Live Music Capital of the World, our suitability as a home for projects like Neon Indian doesn’t quite make the grade. Sure, we get some French DJs rolling through Beauty Bar every once in a while, but Austin is definitively not on the cutting-edge of electronic music.
With any luck, bands like VEGA and Neon Indian can help change that for listeners (and reviewers) tired of the same garage-rock-revival album (even though we cling to their European fame). They have some local help already in play (check out the guys at Learning Secrets for just one example of those fighting the good fight), and local VEGA/Neon Indian shows that I’ve seen have drawn considerable enthusiasm, even if you don’t count this year’s ACL. So remember: while you’re enjoying the laid-back arpeggios of Neon Indian at Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend, don’t forget these guys aren’t from the mythical land of blogspot fame, they’re from Austin. And personally, I’d like to tout the fact (not to mention keep it that way).
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