GAVIN

OCTOBER 8, 1993

IDAHO

Year After Year (Caroline)

This Los Angeles duo’s sound falls somewhere between American Music Club and Sebadoh; depressing in the wrong mood, but oh so comforting in the right one. I don’t usually go for this sort of thing—I mean, life is depressing enough without bringing it home via your stereo, ya know what I mean? But today (after turning down a trip to England) I’m in the mood to appreciate the buzzing numbness Year After Year so invitingly offers. Hey, they know the anguish I’m wallowing in! The NME put it best when one of their writers said Idaho’s songs are “memorable monuments to desolation.” Yeah, it’s dramatic, but you can handle it. Favorite “monuments” include “God’s Green Earth,” “Memorial Day” and the previously released “Skyscrape” and “Gone.” Find a quiet moment and drop out.