ALTERNATIVE PRESS
March 1996
IDAHO
Three Sheets To The Wind
There’s a reason why LA has some of the most beautiful
sunsets in the world. Anyone who failed physics knows that because of the
refraction of dust particles and pollution in the air, the sun in southern
California can take on extraordinary hues on its way down. Idaho’s Jeff Martin
no doubt revels in this irony as weather phenomena loom large in this Angeleno’s lyrical world view. On Three Sheets To The Wind, Idaho manage to partially shake the “sadcore” tag that has followed them around on records past with
songs like “Catapult” and the shoegazing of “Pomegranate
Bleeding.” The first side of the record is oddly upbeat with the surprising “If
You Dare” (no, not quite the Replacements’ “I Will Dare” but a leadoff track
nonetheless) starting things with a sharp, lazy chord progression thrown over a
shuffling hip-hop beat. The remainder of the first side follows the guitar-driven
path in an attempt to convey what Martin’s lyrics hint
at endlessly-the struggle and shame of using worldly addictions to escape an
otherwise spiritually devoid life. Witness a line from “Catapult”: “Summer’s getting old and I’m still out of it“.
It is not until the second side, however, that Idaho
really mellow out and show their “not-so-secret affinity for the most melancholy
of seasons-winter. On “Alive Again,” the studio piano’s
sustain pedal gets a serious work out as Martin longingly drawls lines like “Late
December is what I’m feeling,” or “...like a drape of crystal snow.” As Three
Sheets To The Wind closes in this vein, one is left with a soul-searching, contemplative
moodiness that is reminiscent of Idaho’s earlier work.
At their best, Idaho sound like a smart mix of
fellow LA haze rockers Acetone and Dinosaur Jr. However, a song like “A Sound Awake”
forces you to realize that Idaho can sound like the mediocre bitter sweetness
of mid-‘80s U2 or the Church. But Martin’s delicate songwriting coupled with
hauntingly sincere lyrics makes for some of the best mood music this side of
Nick Drake. Like watching a blazing sunset, listening to Three Sheets To The Wind is a life-affirming exercise in realizing the
inevitable-and reveling in its beauty. (Caroline)
Charlie Amter