The groundbreaking legacy of slowcore pioneers IDAHO will be celebrated with The Devil You Know [1992-1996], a landmark four-album five-disc Deluxe Limited-Edition Box Set featuring vinyl reissues of the band’s long-out-of-print and highly sought-after first three records (originally released on Caroline/Capitol) with an exclusive bonus disc of hard-to-find material comprised of EPs and 7”s from this seminal era. The Devil You Know [1992-1996] arrives via Arts & Crafts on Friday, October 25. Pre-orders are available now.
Led by Laurel Canyon-based singer-songwriter Jeff Martin, IDAHO are the unsung cult heroes of 90s slowcore. Though they are often grouped amongst post-grunge indie rock pioneers like Low, Songs: Ohia, and Codeine, IDAHO is distinguished by the desert atmospherics of Martin’s four-string guitar, echoing out his elegant songcraft in a canyon of alien tones and melancholic feedback.
The Devil You Know [1992-1996] now arrives at an apex moment for IDAHO, following the recent premiere of the career-spanning feature documentary, Traces of Glory: The Musical Journey of Idaho and the acclaimed arrival of Lapse, the band’s first new album in 13 years. The Devil You Know [1992-1996] preserves an era of a band poised to defy the constricts of expectation, laying the groundwork for rebelliously slow and beautiful music entirely their own, sustaining IDAHO’s everlasting interplay with their particular muse, as they churned out album after album (after album) of singular grit and guttural beauty.
Founded in Los Angeles by singer/songwriter Jeff Martin and the late John Berry, IDAHO exemplified an adventurous and original take on the American underground, fusing fuzzed-chord grunge rock, pedal-pushing shoegaze, and post-hardcore experimentalism with an overall ambiance of beautiful despondency. A series of singles and EPs – much of which is included on The Devil You Know [1992-1996] exclusive bonus LP – heralded their matchless approach, with songs like “Creep” and “Star” showcasing what proved to be the band’s career-defining sense of longing, mystery, grace, and dreamy-yet-edgy nuance.
“I vividly recall the first time I heard Idaho, 29 years ago. I was so struck by them right from first encounter. Such a remarkable band; such a remarkable sound,” writes renowned musician, writer, and publisher/editor of The Big Takeover, Jack Rabid, in The Devil You Know [1992-1996]’s exclusive liner notes. “Right from first taste, it was clear that IDAHO had immediately likable yet not simple tunes; ample hooks; sneaky melodies; contemplative parts both loud and quiet without jarring juxtapositions (like Nirvana was then borrowing from the Pixies); subtle squalls of background feedback; singer/songwriter Jeff Martin’s laconic vocalizing that nevertheless yielded to deeper passions; and most of all, overall damn-different, surreptitiously strange guitar tones I couldn’t put my finger on…Given today’s preponderance of dreamy, atmospheric indie rock, all four LPs can justifiably be seen as pioneering discs with their own distinct niche. And it was all just a start of a beautiful musical genius fans have loved for 32 years—and still counting!”
Are you going to be adding IDAHO’s new vinyl box set to your collection?
