So you know that whole ‘Forget Obama, Polyvinyl in ‘08′ that I wrote in the HEADLIGHTS Some Racing, Some Stopping review? That wasn’t just because I find Hillary to be unlikable or think that Obama lacks original ideas, its because I’d also been listening to Pershing. Both albums came out on Polyvinyl and make me think that they will be my favorite record label of the year.

I never heard BORIS YELTSIN’S first album so I have no basis for comparison, but Pershing is awesome. It’s sort of like a fine wine in that it gets better with time. On my first run-through “Glue Girls” was the only song that stood out, but after listen #15 “Dead Right”, “Modern Mystery”, “The Beach Song” and “Some Constellation” had joined “Glue Girls” in the A-list. The hooks are there, but are very subtle. I know that broadband internet connections + a bazillion myspace bands = you having the attention span of a four year old, but you’ll be happy you stuck this one out.

The only thing that grinds my gears about the band is that I can’t figure out who they sound like. I can 80% hit it, but all my comparisons (GUSTER, TALLY HALL, PINBACK) are never spot on.

Now here’s the full disclosure, the band I manage is going on tour with BORIS YELTSIN in April. As such, I should probably poop on the band/album a little to not seem biased so here we go: I just saw them play twice at SXSW and they kind of dress like they’re still in seventh grade. Not in an ironic way, they just don’t care / know any better / still have their moms shop for them. At least they don’t dress like LA emo kids. I’m not going to talk anymore smack though because they made a great record and one of their guitarists threw a giant rock on their other guitarists’ hand while they were shooting a video for “Beach Song”. Said hand is very broken and I am now very scared. Buy this album.

P.S. Do you have any ideas how many times I typed initially “Yelstin”? I have no clue why.

Polyvinyl

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