"Polish Girl" is a song recorded by American band Neon Indian. It was released on August 3, 2011 as the second single from Era Extraña (2011).[2] A music video, directed by Tim Nackashi and produced in collaboration with The Creators Project, was released on September 13.[3][4] Pitchfork named it the 69th best song of 2011.[5] It was included in the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One rereleases of Grand Theft Auto V in 2014 and 2015 as part of the radio station, radio mirror park.[6]
| "Polish Girl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Neon Indian | ||||
| from the album Era Extraña | ||||
| Released | August 3, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | Winter 2010—2011 | |||
| Studio | Kalevankatu 45, Helsinki | |||
| Genre | Electropop[1] | |||
| Length | 4:26 | |||
| Label | Static Tongues, Mom + Pop | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Alan Palomo | |||
| Producer(s) | Alan Palomo | |||
| Neon Indian singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Composition edit
Era Extraña was recorded from the winter of 2010 to 2011 at Kalevankatu 45 in Helsinki, Finland, when Palomo lived there for four weeks.[7][8]
Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork found "Polish Girl" to be similar to the song "Reunion" (2004) by Canadian band Stars, seeing a resemblance to its theme of someone trying to recover, and yearning for, young love.[9] Palomo asks questions in the song that are likely to be unanswered, such as "Do I still cross your mind?/ Your face still distorts the time".[9] Drowned in Sound reviewer Robert Cooke noted the "dazzling syncopated pulse" to be similar to the coin sound effect in games from the Mario series, while observing melodies that "splash and slide around sickly-sweet flurries of arpeggios and a family-friendly feel-good beat".[10] Parry Ernsberger of Blurt said that the song includes what sounds like samples from the game Super Mario World (1991), and has the "euphoric energy" of Cut Copy's album Zonoscope (2011).[11] Beats Per Minute writer Aurora Mitchell said the song "sounds like 80s disco distorted through an old computer",[12] while Heather Phares of AllMusic noted the song sounds more like Palomo's other project Vega than Neon Indian.[13]
Personnel edit
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Era Extraña.[8]
- Alan Palomo – production, arrangements, performer
- Dave Fridmann – additional production, mixing
- Claudius Mittendorfer – mixing
Charts edit
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[14] | 39 |
References edit
- ^ Carlin, Shannon (August 3, 2011). "Listen: Neon Indian, 'Polish Girl' : All Songs Considered". NPR. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Gruen, Margot Cooper. "Listen: Neon Indian 'Polish Girl'". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ Bevan, David (September 13, 2011). "Video: Neon Indian: "Polish Girl"". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (September 13, 2011). "Neon Indian – "Polish Girl" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "The Top 100 Tracks of 2011". Pitchfork. December 12, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Goble, Corban (November 17, 2014). "Grand Theft Auto V Reveals Expanded Radio Station Tracklists for Game Relaunch". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Dombal, Ryan (September 12, 2011). "Interviews: Neon Indian". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Era Extraña (liner notes). Neon Indian. Mom + Pop Music. 2011. MP033.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b Fitzmaurice, Larry (September 13, 2011). "Neon Indian: 'Polish Girl'". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ Cooke, Robert (October 6, 2011). "Album Review: Neon Indian – Era Extraña". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ Ernsberger, Parry. "Neon Indian – Era Extraña". Blurt. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- ^ Mitchell, Aurora (September 14, 2011). "Album Review: Neon Indian – Era Extraña". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ Phares, Heather. "Era Extraña – Neon Indian". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "Neon Indian: Mexico Ingles Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2023.