"Most of what I’ve learned about human nature in my twenties has happened after dark. People are just kind of more honest then. More deliberate. I like to call the places I go to Night Schools."
Alan Palomo, Pitchfork
(2015), Neon Indian's (i.e. Mexican-born Texan Alan Palomo) third album is a concept album that explores the side of humanity that one usually only glimpses after nightfall. It was recorded after Palomo moved from Denton, Texas to Brooklyn, and the city's economics certainly makes an appearance in the lyrics to "Slumlord Rising":
'Cause it's easy to be the miser when no one's the wiserEasy to shake downEasy to glean the green from Bayridge to QueensEasy to wear the crown
They say that this place ain't got a heartCause I can still hear the beatAnd every night is oh-oh-oh-ah-oh, oh-oh-oh-ah-ohFrom all the way down the street'
Lyrics: Genius
Palomo's view on class relations and human nature may be pessimistic, but the track also captures the urban landscape's visceral thrills and pulse-raising capacities with frantic analog synths and a momentum-driven bassline - presumably the reasons why a young musician such as himself would choose to endure the exorbitant rent. Perhaps that's why the city's nightclubs are always packed and alive: they're the place to momentarily forget all the bills that have to be paid, a place where youth - with its ability to dance the night away - can reign supreme over the landlord.
