Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ Mojo's, 01/25/08

Consider it official: You no longer have any excuse to miss Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. The Springfield natives have transcended the ranks of “successful local band” and feel-good novelty to become a genuinely great band, and it’s something to see. Friday night’s show had the band in top shape, well-rested and fitted out with an album’s worth of new material for an absurdly packed house.

After only one round of the new stuff, the distinctions are immediate. The swifter, sleeker Pershing (the new album, due April 8 on Polyvinyl) is a significant departure from Broom’s charmingly amateur home recordings (to be accurate, though, Pershing was also recorded in a relative’s home), with the precocious melodies giving way to more intricate compositions, à la 2007’s criminally underrated “Half-Awake (Deb)”. Save for the sugar-sick vocals and the occasional guitar noodle, this stuff is totally unrecognizable.

As usual, the band treated Columbia to a lengthy set, including nine songs from the upcoming Pershing, and yes, a Nirvana cover (during an extended tuning break, lead singer John Robert challenged the crowd to name a Nirvana song they couldn’t play). Their take on “Drain You” makes three Nirvana covers in the band’s last four appearances in Columbia, with “Been a Son” in 2006 and “Lithium” last August. As always, hearing such vitriol from a band so often and misguidedly described as “precious” and “cute” makes for a unique thrill. “Scentless Apprentice” next time? Please?

(click to enlarge)

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Setlist:
Gwyneth
Glue Girls
Anna Lee
Pangea
Oregon Girl
Travel Song
Beach Song
Think I Wanna Die
I Am Warm And Powerful
House Fire
Some Constellation (?)
Half-Awake (Deb)
Deadright
You Could Write a Book
Lower the Gas Prices, Howard Johnson
Let's Get Tired!
Oceanographer
Modern Mystery
Drain You (Nirvana)
Boring Fountain
Anne Elephant

[photos and review by Zach Noland; cover photo by Meghan Sundermeier]