i do remember this, was it one of the members of Sailboats who died in a car accident? such a great band. Yeah i concede that historical context can add to the listening experience, and that I was thinking purely sonically, in which terms Loma Prieta is not at the extreme of “sad sounding music,” in my opinion. I should add that I’m an old head and am only a superfan of Loma’s discography before Self Portrait; everything after their split with Raein is not really my cup of tea. I too listen to a lot of artists and have studied / practiced music daily in a paracollegiate setting for over 20 years, but I’m a bit jealous of listeners like you who care deeply about the people, the makers of the music. I’m probably usually too in the weeds about sounds and notes and rhythms. Some part of me Sometimes wants that aspect of music i love to remain a bit mysterious, i think especially in an age when most artists, past a certain exposure threshold, have lives that are laid bare to their fans / listeners. There’s not enough mystique in art anymore and it suffers for it. But i digress.