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Jul 07, 2015 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin By Aaron Passman

Let’s be honest: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin‘s last two LPs were something less than stellar. Let It Sway, from 2010, just didn’t have the songs, whereas 2013’s Fly By Wire was the sound of a band that seemed to have become bored with its own material. All of which makes The High Country even more of a pleasant surprise.

With 11 songs clocking in at less than 27 minutes, the focus here is on efficiency and energy—all the more refreshing given that this is the band’s fifth LP in 10 years, a time whnds to fall into familiar patterns and stick with what works. Instead, The High Country offers propulsive drums, fuzz-tone distortion and hooks, with songs that never run long enough to wear out their welcome.

While brevity is generally a positive here, by the end of the album it’s possible to feel one has already heard the same song a few times. But SSLYBY vary it well enough, interspersing Weezer-inspired moments like “Step Brother City” and “Song Will” (a reworked B-side from the band’s early days) with the Beatles-y “Full Possession of All Her Powers” or the muted “Madeline.”

It would be a stretch to say that SSLYBY have reinvented themselves on The High Country. There’s plenty here, including “Foreign Future” and “Magnet’s New Summer ‘Do,” that could’ve fit on their first two records. But five albums and more than a decade into their career- and, really, who expected them to last this long?—Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin have found a way to freshen up the formula, and the end result is their best album in years. (www.sslyby.com)

Author rating: 6/10