HARP

Sept/Oct 2002

IDAHO

We Were Young and Needed the Money

(Idahomusic/Retrophonic)

It’s been over 10 years since Jeff Martin emerged from California with his 4-string guitar and, along with a handful of other “slocore” acts, started spreading a narcotized gospel of gloom and sadness. Having survived that deadly industry tag, Idaho has gone on to make frequently brilliant music, maintaining a small if devoted cult following while never really achieving the acclaim — popular or critical — of countless less accomplished acts. We Were Young and Needed the Money’s 17 tracks of outtakes and rarities are culled from the band’s entire history, and while the record is as much a chronicle of roads not taken, it does a fine job of charting Martin’s interesting growth from tentative indie rock frontman to the reflective singer-songwriter he is today.

- PAT FITZGERALD