Everything about this screams INDIE ROCK!!

When you name your band you have to be careful. Often it will go a long way to determining who will listen to you and which people will even take the time review your material. When you don't put enough effort into your name it can be highly detrimental to your success. Take THE FOO FIGHTERS for example. Coming on the heals of the end of NIRVANA, Dave Grohl had to form a new band to allow him to continue his creative output. Back then I was working at a record label and a friend handed me a cassette with the band's name and nothing else. Now, had I not done my homework I might of just passed on it just like I had several thousand other promo cd's and tapes that I had received. But for some reason I didn't. Imagine if the same thing had happened if no one knew who Dave Grohl was. We would have missed out on a truly great band.

(this is not to say I had any hand in THE FOO FIGHTERS success, I merely had an early release copy and played it on my show before anyone else in Southern California, but since my radio station had the transmission strength of two cans and a string, it had no real historical impact.)

Which brings us to SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU, BORIS YELTSIN. This would be an easy band to dismiss since the name is so preposterous and in some ways overly pretentious. We get it, you're smart. Must you bludgeon us with your knowledge of Cold War era Russian politics? I bring this up because I did initially dismiss this Missouri band precisely for this reason. I am here to admit I was wrong. They are in fact, a very good indie rock band. They have inhaled the REM and PAVEMENT catalogues to produce a pretty high quality catalogue of quirky pop tunes. Their latest record, "Let It Sway" is due out in August and they have released the title track first single. A perfect piece of jangly, shining pop music that has piqued my interest in their older material as well as whet my appetite for the new record. I think I have now played this about 7 times in a row. It's just that addicting.

Just another case of judging book by it's cover (or band by it's name)...

(mp3) Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin -- Sink/Let It Sway (link courtesy of the awesome THE PHOTON GOD blog)