Idaho Green – Gems of the High Plains
As purveyors of predominantly WNY-based music, it makes complete sense that we’d review a double LP from Montana-born, Brooklyn-based act Idaho Green (IG). Sarcasm aside, Idaho Green is one of those wacky bands that we would champion over here at buffaBLOG – we’re not intimately familiar with the group, but they seem like the type of loud, lightly-wacky act that pumps out good, passionate songs at a frighteningly efficient pace. Full disclosure, Idaho Green reminds me of a few beloved local acts (see here, or here), and I find that endearing. Buffalo is a secondary market (much like Billings, Montana I’d imagine), so we usually have to create our own fun. A place like Brooklyn seems like an obvious home for a quartet like this, but thinking about IG dressing up in stage outfits and getting wild in some dive bar in Montana makes me smile.
The double album in question is the 34 song (?!) Gems of the High Plains (GOTHP), a washing-of-hands of sorts for IG. It’s an all-encompassing collection of the unreleased songs from the last 12 years of the band’s existence. Expect explosions of emotion soaked in guitar-driven fuzz through the lens of vintage songwriting – “spud punk,” if you will. With such a huge collection of songs, the only place to start is with song one, “I Still Miss You.” Here, you’ll get a good feel for what to expect from this crew – speaker shredding guitars; easily digestible chord progressions; big, bombastic drums; and neurotic-but-fitting vocals. A briefly heartfelt intro changes tempo into a maelstrom of noise – instruments cranked almost to the point of distortion, but never peaking. This is a recurring motif of this act – pushing the limits of stereotypical songwriting as far as they can while still retaining that strong sense of melody that keeps listeners coming back. Another example of this is “Robotrippin at the Gates of Hell,” where the band’s blistering tempo and telephone-effect vocals never get in the way of big hooks and fun guitar parts.
Another aspect of GOTHP finds the band at their strangest. The first indication of this is the mid-song breakdown in the discordant “No Bite,” where the band layers an unhinged falsetto chant with clicking drums, extra vocals, and a sound bite. You can toss the super punked-out numbers in this category too – like the throat mangling screaming found on “Peckerwood Motherfucker.” “Chi Witch,” “Re:Capitulate,” and “Adam’s Apple” all flirt with stoner rock territory, with their giant chord progressions, fuzzed-out riffing, and madman-style vocals. They even reserve their album closer, “Harmon Killeblues,” for a wild, Pavement-in-the-1950s-type song. These songs don’t always go down as smoothly as a pop-oriented lead single, but they do show the carefree side of a band who just loves making music. Also… Is that a kazoo on “Not That Bad?”
IG is capable of some introspective moments too – “Parris, Texas,” “Unconditional Waivers,” and “Dziadzia” are simple, pretty acoustic guitar meanderings – songs destined to become a lost voice memo, but instead immortalized on this massive album. “Cindy” hits like this too – an iPhone recording vibe featuring some minute-long snippet of a long-lost band practice. Same for the folksy chant found on “Crazymaker” – a raw take on what could have been a fun, rhythmic stomper, complete with some tasty, impromptu harmonies. Even “Star Shrek” falls into this category – a huge, JAPANDROIDS-esque, cymbal-crashing number set off with a sound bite… It’s probably just the band stumbling upon an epic-sounding progression that felt like it was going somewhere stellar, but was more likely just something fun to hammer out. Songs like these probably won’t end up as the lead single when there are 30-ish other fleshed-out songs to choose from, but they encapsulate moments in time that give an insight into a band’s inner workings. I, for one, am glad they included them.
There really is so much to dig into here, so I’d like to wrap up by highlighting some of my favorite moments on GOTHP – songs that feel like the band is in-the-pocket and embodying what I perceive as their archetypal sound. “Beer. Wings. Sports.” (which sounds like a good night out in Buffalo), makes use of their trademark falsetto woo-ing, while they slam down on a cool, diminished-sounding chorus. The jangly (but still chest-thumping) “My Front Door” is full of noodly guitar riffs, and sounds like it’s about to fall apart at any given moment… But never does. “New Booch Boofin,” with it’s cymbal-bell beat and beach-ready melodies, makes me want to hop on a surfboard and/or smash something into a million pieces. Even the fleeting “Studs Up at the Suds Hut” makes me feel something deep down – boasting one of the not-so-secretly hooky vocal melodies on the album.
Gems of the High Plains is available now (August 5th, 2024). The band has lovingly printed it on “dummy thicc” 150 gram wax, which you can purchase here. You can also stream it via your preferred listening service, whether that be Spotify or Apple Music. For all the other ways to support this great band, take a look at their Linktree link.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Nick Sessanna