Damn you Natalie Portman, it’s all your fault. Before you showed up in your over-sized headphones it was okay to like music merely because it was enjoyable. Pop was cool to like critically. But now, if it doesn’t change your life then it’s not worth my time. Whatever happened to just loving a band or an album that’s fun but not life altering? Is the only good music life-altering music?

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are really, really, really, enjoyable. Is that such a horrible a thing? For some it’s reason to write off a great band. I call it the Vampire Weekend Effect. In the eyes of many, a great album that happens to be rather lightweight is not a great album. Because it will not change your life, because you cannot bring it up in conversation and intimidate others by dropping its name, because many internet commentators will be dismissive, bands that are generally regarded as pop bands are not viewed as worthy of greatness.

This is a shame.

In a perfect world, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) would be huge. Hailing from the unlikely indie rock spawning ground of Springfield, Missouri (although consider that Ha Ha Tonka also resides in Springfield, there must be a pretty decent scene) they released their debut album Broom in 2005 and were loosely associated with similar “blog-rock” groups, bands that came upon a degree of popularity without record labels via the internet. Unlike similar acts such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Tapes ‘n Tapes who released buzz deflating sophomore albums, SSLYBY have grown and matured, releasing the superior Pershing this spring. It’s catchy and a grower due to improved songwriting. Pershing is a “better” album but Broom is why I love SSLYBY.

Broom is a magical album, the sort of album that you fall in love with and listen to everyday for a month straight, the sort of album that you put on repeat and listen to three times straight and still crave more. It sounds like a hazy summer day, floating on carefree. If you were to triangulate early Weezer, Elliott Smith, and the Shins, you have a good idea of what Broom sounds like.

If your high school years were a television show, not a fake O.C. or High School Musical type of show but an honest portrayal of your life, then SSLYBY would be the soundtrack of that show. “Modern Mystery” would play in the background of the climatic scene; the scene in which your long time crush finally realizes it’s you that she wants and you embrace silently in a nighttime rainstorm. Gwyneth would soundtrack the scene where you left her behind to go to college, as she faded from sight in your rear view mirror. You can do this for almost every song in SSLYBY catalog. They perfectly represent your life but your life in a slightly fictional, slightly exaggerated, melodramatic way.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin will not change your life. They are a lightweight pop band who are nothing more than really enjoyable. They will not cause you to quit your job or start a revolution. Your life post-SSLYBY will be roughly the same as your pre-SSLYBY life. The one difference is that they will now be ingrained into it. And in doing so, by becoming the indispensable background music of your life and your memories, they may just change your life after all.

“House Fire” [mp3]
“Modern Mystery” [mp3]

Last 5 posts by Tom Williams

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