Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) is an American
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band from
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
. They are named after
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, the first
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
after the
breakup of the Soviet Union. Their first full-length album, ''
Broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
'', was independently released in 2005. They are now signed with
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Biography
Will Knauer and Philip Dickey were friends in high school. Phil and John Robert Cardwell met in 2002 during their freshman year of college and started writing songs together.
From 2002 to 2004, the group recorded demos at home and in their dorm rooms while playing local shows in Springfield and
Columbia, Missouri. The group's first release was a split EP with the vocal duo Gwyn and Grace in 2004.
In Fall 2004 the group began recording their first full-length album, ''
Broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
'', at Knauer's house, which is featured in much of the band's artwork. ''Broom'' was released in March 2005. The debut was seen as an indie success, and received favorable press in ''
Spin Magazine
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Histor ...
'' and internet buzz from blogs lik
You Ain't No Picassoan
Bars and Guitars while
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
gave the album an average rating, 6.9/10.0. Shortly after releasing Broom, SSLYBY released a
split record
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
with
Michael Holt, formerly of the
Mommyheads
The Mommyheads are an indie pop band who played from around 1987 through 1998, disbanded for a decade, and then reformed in 2008. Starting in New York City as the brainchild of singer Adam Cohen (who later changed his name to Adam Elk to avoid ...
, on
Catbird Records (a label started by the
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
site ''Catbirdseat'') in 2005.
In February 2006, the band went on their first national support tour opening up for Catfish Haven (from the
Secretly Canadian
Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...
label). On the same tour, the group recorded their first session for the music website
Daytrotter
Daytrotter is a recording studio, music venue and subscription-based music discovery website located in Atlanta, United States. It hosts recording sessions with indie music acts.
The original studio in Rock Island, Illinois, was founded in 2006 ...
. Later that year, the band's song "Oregon Girl" was featured on an episode of ''
The OC
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...
''.
The group signed to
Polyvinyl Records
In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted vinyl () monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Examples
Vinyl polymers ar ...
in June 2006 and re-released ''
Broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
'' in October 2006. Because the original version of the album was recorded by the band with their own equipment (including a Boss
digital multitrack recorder using only
Shure
Shure Incorporated is an American audio products corporation. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of mi ...
SM57 and
SM58 microphones
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
), it was not professionally
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
to the same level as most industry-standard releases. The
lo-fi
Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
sound drew many critics and listeners to the band.
In July 2007, SSLYBY performed at the
Afisha Picnic music festival in Moscow, Russia, just three months after the death of
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
.
The group returned to Springfield to record their highly anticipated follow up to ''
Broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
''. Unable to record at Knauer's house because of noise complaints, the band moved their home recording studio to Knauer's aunt's house.
''
Pershing'' was released on April 8, 2008 on Polyvinyl Records. The album spawned three music videos: "Think I Wanna Die" directed by Grammy-nominated director Israel Anthem and featuring members of the band
Eisley
Eisley is an American rock band from Tyler, Texas, originally consisting of siblings Sherri DuPree, Chauntelle DuPree, Stacy DuPree and Weston DuPree. Remaining recording/touring members are their sister Sherri DuPree-Bemis and their cousin Gar ...
, and "Modern Mystery" and "Glue Girls", both directed by Brook Linder.
The band was named the "best new band in Missouri" by the ''Boston Phoenix'' despite the "cutesy, irritating quality of its six-word name". ''Pershing'' was named the best album of 2008 by the blogs It's Hard to Find A Friend, The Stark Online, and The Power Pop Show. Blender Magazine ranked "Dead Right" as one of the top 200 songs of 2008.
In 2008 the band released a split EP with the Liverpool band Puzzle, licensed their song "Anne Elephant" to a
MasterCard commercial, and made their network television performance debut on the
Carson Daly Show.
SSLYBY's third album under Polyvinyl, ''
Let It Sway'', was produced by
Chris Walla
Christopher Ryan Walla (born November 2, 1975) is an American musician, record producer, and film music composer, best known for being a former guitarist and songwriter for the band Death Cab for Cutie.
Musical career
Early bands
While at Bo ...
of
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyb ...
and
Beau Sorenson
Beau Sorenson (born 1980) is an American record producer and engineer. He has worked with Death Cab For Cutie, Bob Mould, Superchunk, Sparklehorse, Jars of Clay, Yellow Ostrich, The Lonely Forest, Field Report, Someone Still Loves You Bo ...
.
On October 22, 2010, NME.com debuted the music video for "Sink/Let It Sway" directed by Brook Linder. The band and Linder would pair up again in early 2011 to make a video for "Critical Drain", which premiered on
MTV.com.
In early 2011, the band supported
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consists of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with t ...
on a US tour. Later that year, they released ''
Tape Club'', a collection of
b-sides and rarities.
The band released a new album on September 17, 2013 entitled ''Fly by Wire''. News of this album coincides with John Robert's departure from the band. As Phil would now be required to cover vocals full-time, Tom Hembree was brought back to the band to take over bassist duties, and Phil's sister Roni was added as a keyboardist.
On March 5, 2015, it was announced via the band's official Twitter page that a new album would be released in the summer of 2015. A teaser trailer for the album was simultaneously released on YouTube. Later that month, on March 26, it was announced that the album would be called "The High Country" and that it would be released on June 2, 2015.
Members
Current
* Philip Dickey - vocals, drums, guitar, songwriting
* Will Knauer - lead guitar, songwriting
* Jonathan James - bass, drums, backing vocals
* Tom Hembree - bass
Former
* John Robert Cardwell - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, songwriting
*Roni Dickey - keyboard
Discography
Albums
* ''
Broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
'' (Generic Equivalent 2005, reissued on Polyvinyl Records in 2006 and 2011)
* ''
Pershing'' (2008 Polyvinyl Records)
US Heatseekers #39
* ''
Let It Sway'' (2010 Polyvinyl Records) US Heatseekers #19
* ''
Fly by Wire'' (2013 Polyvinyl Records) US Heatseekers #31
* ''The High Country'' (2015 Polyvinyl Records)
Other releases
* Split CD Vol. 6 (with
Grace and Gwyn) - Sew, Sew, Suck Your Toe (2004 Generic Equivalent)
* Two People... Probably Thinking About Me EP (Generic Equivalent) (2004 also known as "Gwyn and Grace" and untitled)
* ''Someone Still Loves You Michael Holt'' (2005 Catbird Records / CBR 001)
* 'Haircuts' split cd
Nathaniel Carroll(2006 Things That Are True)
* ''
Not Worth Fighting'' Single (2007 Polyvinyl Records / PRC-134)
* ''Pangea'' single (2007 Polyvinyl Records)
* ''Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Puzzle'' (2008 Polyvinyl Records)
* 'Back To You' fo
Fast ForwardWorld Cup Compilation (2010 Indiecater Records)
* ''
Tape Club'' (2011 Polyvinyl Records) US Heatseekers #49
Other projects
*''
Winter's Bone
''Winter's Bone'' is a 2010 American coming-of-age mystery drama film directed by Debra Granik. It was adapted by Granik and Anne Rosellini from the 2006 novel of the same name by Daniel Woodrell. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as a povert ...
'' soundtrack (Jonathan James recorded and mixed several songs)
*Yawn
*The Current Group
*mrPunch
*Wharf
*Sweetwater Abilene
*The New Monsters Collective
*Dragon Inn 3
References
External links
Official WebsiteSSLYBY Youtube channellast.fm
{{Authority control
1999 establishments in Missouri
Indie rock musical groups from Missouri
Musical groups established in 1999
Cultural depictions of Boris Yeltsin