First of all, the band name: excellent. And I thought I was the only one with the Yeltsin love! Next, the music. You thought the Strokes were “lo-fi?” Well, I guess we both made mistakes. For the band’s label’s take on production/mastering of music, please visit catbird records. Let’s just say they’re sort of minimalists in that regard. But does it matter? Nope. Broom is a half hour of catchy indie-pop goodness with thoughtful lyrics and bouncy baselines. Think Ben Kweller meets Beulah meets Elliott Smith. Need I say more?

“Pangea,” the opening track, would be a fantastic pop song even without the interspersed ba-ba-ba-da’s. “I Am Warm and Powerful” follows up nicely, loaded with the all-powerful handclaps (just try and resist ‘em). “Travel Song” and “Oregon Girl” are both very poppy as well, boasting the bulk of the Beulah sound (say that five times fast). On most of the other tracks you can hear the Ben Kweller sound. At some points, I could swear that was BK himself singing.

Though every track is solid, one that really stands out is “House Fire” which is a 3-minute song that starts out blending easy going drumming with piano and acoustic guitar plucking, gradually building up and recycling itself verse to verse. The instrumentation is good, but the lyrics are even better, with heartbreaking lines like, “We did what we could to save this car from crashing/Your pretty face soaked in blood/You know I still found you dashing.” “Anna Lee,” with a near goose bump-inducing chorus, assures that these guys are not letting up: “Broken phone and a heart that bleeds/My stomach’s trembling and I’m getting weak in the knees.” Broom ends with “Gwyneth” which offers a guitar part very similar to that of the chorus to Modest Mouse’s “3rd Planet”, but is easily forgivable considering the surrounding content.

The best thing about this record is there is no fluff. No filler. Just great indie-pop. Granted, it’s only 30 minutes long, but I’d rather be wowed for an entire record than want to skip through half the tracks. Considering this is SSLYBY’s first full length, I think any ex-Soviet dictator would be proud. If they are indeed “THE THIRD WORST BAND ON WELLER STREET IN SPRINGFIELD (THE MISSOURI ONE)” as they’re website so boldly declares…then I wouldn’t mind hearing the other two. Does that even make sense?

Check out Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at http://www.morawk.com/boris/