Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

The boys of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin present a bit of a conundrum. They create such foot-stomping, genuinely fun rock music that one feels inclined to yell "Woo!" and buy them all beers. Yet they're so earnest and so gosh-darn adorable that one also kinda wants to invite them over for cake. What to do? Who cares, as long as we all get to hear cuts from SSLYBY's excellent debut LP, Broom? Although many in the music-o-sphere have a hard time moving past the easy Elliott Smith comparison — and it is evident, particularly on the eerily beautiful "House Fire" — SSLYBY is not simply the latest clone of the greatly missed Mr. Smith. The Springfield band's sound recalls Weezer and early Wilco, and its turns of phrase are completely charming. Broom's opening track, "Pangea," takes its name from the second-coolest thing discussed in elementary school (numero uno is flying dinosaurs) and laments the sadness of "drifting apart." Hee! This is rock music that refuses to take itself too seriously — and as a result, it's seriously great.