Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin slept on my floor once. I begged them to teach me the chords to “Pangea,” a track from their then-fresh debut album. We played some other songs that night (there was a glorious Radiohead sing-a-long) but the band had to pass out before another day in the van. Had we had more time, we might’ve plumbed the archives; instead, I’ll dream of what might have been with Tape Club, a career-spanning collection of demos, outtakes and tracks that didn’t quite make their three studio albums. It’s ramshackle and charmingly amateurish like the best indie-pop, at times revealing the group’s ’90s emo influences and turning to ’50s sweetness at others. Whatever the era, it sounds pretty amazing right now.
(In a Christmas miracle, Tape Club is $8 on Bandcamp; the hard copies arrive Oct. 18 on Polyvinyl)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – “Yellow Missing Signs”: mp3
File under: Tours we wish were coming to L.A., though I did catch both Tokyo Police Club and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and their best-of-2010 jams around town this year. Dates via SSLYBY.
In the five years or so I’ve been doing this, I can’t remember a better year for songs. I actually spent most of Saturday ordering a top 100, went a little crazy and decided nobody needed me to rank seven hours of tracks. So here’s a top 50. Every single one of these tracks is incredible, and yes, even Ke$ha. For the record, I allowed two songs per band in a few special cases because not including both Sally Seltmann jams would be a lie (though I did cut two Best Coast songs). Also, No. 51 is Lady Gaga (“Telephone”) and if Nicki Minaj had done all the verses on “Monster,” it’d be No. 1 (but you already knew that). Have at it: Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s the thing about playing the hits: it helps when they’re all hits. But even so, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin managed to one-up themselves over and over, playing “Everlyn” — my favorite on this year’s Let It Sway – second and saving “Glue Girls” and “Pangea” for the encore. That, plus an enthusiastically rowdy crowd, made for a night at Spaceland that felt sky-high. (Also: Thanks for the on-stage shout-out, bros! Miss you.)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – “Sink/Let It Sway”:mp3
More often than not, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is the best power-pop band in the world. Take “Everlyn,” a track custom-engineered by Nobel prize-winning scientists to boggle your mind: After that first magnificent chorus, all cymbals and falsetto, it dips back into verses but careens out into an early bridge — when the second, final chorus comes, it’s with the force of a freight train. Or an orgasm, but let’s not get awkward — the Boris boys have that one handled.
Let It Sway is the group’s third album and first produced by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, who adds his John Hancock: mid-range thicker than Sofia Vergara. The beefier sound gives weight to songs such as “Sink / Let It Sway,” whose barre chords burst out of speakers with the ferocious, adorable energy of hungry kittens. The band’s newfound chunkiness means leaving behind some of the feather-light agility of 2008′s still-great Pershing, though, and their goofier sensibilities (see: the vaguely, awkwardly homoerotic “All Hail Dracula”) sometimes miss the mark this time around. They’re best being sincere, as on lo-fi ballad “Stuart Gets Lost Dans Le Metro”: “Got a four-track on your bed… this is for us, not them.” Let It Sway is for you.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltins – “Sink / Let It Sway”: mp3
(Let It Sway is out now. The band plays Spaceland on Nov. 16 with fellow Walla wards The Lonely Forest.)
The band describes it best: “A pretty demo from our new album.” Indeed it is. Can’t wait to hear it on Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s sure-to-be-rad Let It Sway.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin slept on my floor once. I begged them to teach me the chords to “Pangea,” a track from their then-fresh debut album. We played some other songs that night (there was a glorious Radiohead sing-a-long) but the band had to pass out before another day in the van. Had we had more time, we might’ve plumbed the archives; instead, I’ll dream of what might have been with Tape Club, a career-spanning collection of demos, outtakes and tracks that didn’t quite make their three studio albums. It’s ramshackle and charmingly amateurish like the best indie-pop, at times revealing the group’s ’90s emo influences and turning to ’50s sweetness at others. Whatever the era, it sounds pretty amazing right now.
File under: Tours we wish were coming to L.A., though I did catch both Tokyo Police Club and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and their 
More often than not, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is the best power-pop band in the world. Take “Everlyn,” a track custom-engineered by Nobel prize-winning scientists to boggle your mind: After that first magnificent chorus, all cymbals and falsetto, it dips back into verses but careens out into an early bridge — when the second, final chorus comes, it’s with the force of a freight train. Or an orgasm, but let’s not get awkward — the Boris boys have that one handled.
