NEUMATIC PARLO & LAWN CHAIR

Melancholia! Where your face should be reflected on the glittering surface of the

Rhine, there is nothing but emptiness. The river carries our thoughts away in an

endless stream of doubt and teenage angst. An intense longing located somewhere

between Düsseldorf's notorious old town and the Oberkassel district on the other

side of the Rhine. Where could rebellion against boredom thrive better than here in

Düsseldorf's uptown? In an area of tension between deceptive wealth, abonded sub

culture spaces and the fabled salon des amateurs, there’s something cooking and

suddenly Oberkassel and L.A. are not that far away anymore.

On their second EP ‘Random Toaster’ Neumatic Parlo play melancholic psychedelic

pop. Gloomy lyrics meet delicate melodies and dreamy soundscapes. Vincent

Göttler, Justin Jansen, Luis Wedekind, Frederick Oltersdorf and Simon Hartmann

create a sound that is simultaneously international but with Motorik, synthesizers and

rattling guitars always rooted in the tradition of their hometown. As if he were an

antihero of the early 80s, Göttler sings about fear, doubt and a long search. The

answer whether he will find what he is looking for is still pending, but the existential

need already sounds just like honey.

After their debut EP All Purpose Slicer still sounded like post punk and no wave,

Neumatic Parlo are much more psychedelic and playful on Random Toaster.

Sometimes that sounds a little like Yo La Tengo or as grueling and noisy as a Ty

Segall. Songs like “Real Insight” and “Airplane” rave about dark romantic trips into

other spheres, while “Nicolas Winding Refn” is a scenario full of paranoia that could

have sprung from a film by the same Danish cult director. The anxiety becomes

almost palpable when Göttler's nervous vocal line lies over a rumbling drum kit and is

then literally overrun by a wall of guitars and noise. In “Lake Perris State Recreation

Area” Neumatic Parlo reveal the band's own myth and tell of the joint road trip to the

Desert Daze Festival in the Californian desert. In addition to countless Fuzz War

escapades, it was an appearance by Slowdive that clearly left its mark here. For the

recordings of Random Toaster, the band and producer Patrick Stäudle retired to a

farm in the Black Forest. Seclusion and inner contemplation clearly reverberate here.