I certainly expected to enjoy myself but I was thrilled beyond belief when I walked in and was
greeted with (actually the second of the two openers, I missed Light Polution ... they must have only played for a half an hour) opening act Pico Vs Island Trees. It's not often that I have the "Man ... these guys are going to be huge someday" feeling but I was certainly struck with just that emotion when I heard them start playing. These guys are seriously good and I was immediately thinking that I was fortunate to be able to hear them this early in their careers at such a small venue. They had a bit of Vampire Weekend and a bit of The Strokes laced throughout their sound and performance as well as hints of Bishop Allen but all in all they were the kind of band that doesn't really wear their influences on their sleeves and it was really a delight to watch their set. All the guys from the band seemed really nice as well and I got a chance to talk with Bryan Carter and we chatted about the weather as well as my "Mark Waid is Evil" t-shirt and I told him that I would probably be using a song of theirs in a future episode of the podcast (listen for them very soon). All in all I would say that Pico Vs. Island Trees is likely to be one of my favorite new finds of the year regardless of what else I hear this year.
When Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin took the stage they had all the restrained electricity of a lightning bolt held back by scotchtape, they were instantly energizing and incredibly engaging. They played a great mix of songs from BROOM and Pershing (their newest release) and were clearly having a lot of fun onstage. If I thought I liked BROOM I was certian after hearing just two unfamiliar songs that I was going to love Pershing (which I do ... it's really a great record, a little short but very full of great music and an equal mix of promise and proof of talent). They played for a good solid hour and it was incredibly fun to be right in front (something I usually don't care for) watching the band interact and enjoy performing for a packed small venue. Each member of the band is really very talented and for the most part they are all talented on multiple instruments (with the exception of the very talented lead guitarist Will Knauer) I really think that if you haven't heard SSLYBY that you should head over to their MySpace and take a listen and once you've fallen in love it'd certainly be worth your hard earned moneys in this rough economy to get their records. I think some places online might be unjustly bashing these guys because they are something of music blog darlings but I really do think that they've got a lot of promise and a bright future ahead of themselves. So do a solid for some good Missouri boys done good. You know they'd do the same for you.
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