GALLERY OF SOUND GAZETTE

NOVEMBER, 1993

Idaho

Year After Year

Caroline

* * * ½

Their biography reads like a riddle; what do you get when you cross a classically trained piano player with a punk rocker from L.A.? You get Idaho, and with Year After Year, philosophers may now have a soundtrack for existentialism. Man, represented by singer Jeff Martin’s vocals, stands solidly in the middle of the swirling, uncaring chaos of John Berry’s guitar. Chaos and order battle, and the winner is... anyone who picks up this stunning full-length debut that combines the profound sadness of Joy Division and the powerful grace of the Swans.

Idaho’s dirges of loss and hopelessness allow you to unconditionally wallow in depression and self-pity. Martin’ s voice is deep and despondent while still having the ability to belt out soaring vocals at emotional climaxes. The album drifts from song to song without much variation, but this compounds the emotional impact of Year After Year. This is not an album that will cheer you up if you’re feeling down; instead it offers the catharsis of being at least as glum as you are. Idaho makes music that hangs as heavy as the smell of incense in a church.

AM