Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing
I Still Love You Boris Yeltsin
If you wanted to, you could pick up your phone and prank call Philip Dickey, front man of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Just go on the bands web site and they have their personal phone number posted. (Their refrigerator is in fact running.)
The first album, Broom, was a collection of infectious pop-tunes recorded in the bassist’s attic in Springfield, Missouri. The album fell into the right hands and Polyvinyl records remastered it, tying up the lose ends without complicating the album. Their latest endeavor, Pershing, held on to the tradition of simple melodic surprises but added layers to the songs and gave listeners more to sink their teeth into. The acoustically driven riffs and pop-electric backgrounds are begging to be put into the soundtrack of an art house film and find their way onto the big scene. Sound familiar?
The similarities to the Shins are easy to draw. And to be fair, SSLYBY isn’t exactly pushing any artistic boundaries to separate themselves from any other pop band. But maybe playing it safe is exactly what is saving SSLYBY from being lost in the sea of experimental indie-pop. SSLYBY knows exactly who it is, and knows how to utilize the entire space of its boundaries. And what’s best is that it consistently shows it knows how to write a damn good pop song.
The handclap is the best instrument given to man, and SSLYBY knows exactly when and how to use it, playing it against well placed rounds and a chorus of, “oooh’s” and “woah-oh-woah’s.” The melodies are boldly independent of the music, and thus give songs like, “Some Constellation,” full sound, despite it being pop. The lyricism is showing signs of finding its way into a, dare I say, Jeff Tweedy-esque type of balance. Philip Dickey’s songs focus heavily on relationships and heart-ache, but yet I don’t feel like the issues are forced down my throat nor is it over-saturated with sap. Dickey is finding a way, like in the delicately written “Heers,” to imbue his lyrics with an intimate passion but not to take away from the songs autonomy.
If you think that Animal Collective is the best thing that ever happened to music, you may want to steer clear. But if you are looking for a band whose accessibility harkens back to Motown while still keeping enough trimmings to create a complete sound, you’ve found them in Boris Yeltsin.
Igor German
Former Communist
