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Rating: "Forbidden" is the 1997 EP that preceded "Alas", the fourth studio album by Idaho. The record label Talitres has recently released a special edition containing both records.
Quite different from previous works, "Forbidden" is five tracks that leave behind the obsessive and hypnotic melancholy of the early works of the Los Angeles band in favor of a decidedly more sunny, catchy sound and lyrics, not without a certain nostalgia, but far from the despair of the beginnings—everyday stories and feelings that highlight a romantic resignation.
Jeff Martin's voice and the band's style here is no longer so closely associated with Kozelekian art but instead is more akin to that of Stephen Malkmus, in the melody of "Goldenseal" and the guitar work in "Apricots to Armagnac," where it feels like hearing late '90s Pavement, sometimes "in slow motion," in keeping with the tradition and origins of the group. The moment that most strikes in this mini-album is the 6 minutes of the closing track "Bass Crawl," a bass that is as sweet as it is hypnotic, accompanying the most emblematic verses of the work :
"it is not what it seems
it´s exactly what you need" .
A pleasant and relaxing listen, ideal as a morning awakening, marks a turning point for Jeff Martin and associates, but also represents a natural sonic evolution paralleled by the experience of several bands of the period in the Slo-Core tradition.
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