Pershing (album)

Pershing is the second full-length studio album from American indie pop band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. It was released through Polyvinyl Records on April 8, 2008.[1]

Pershing
Studio album by
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
ReleasedApril 8, 2008
RecordedMarch 2007 at Fre's loft in Wilmington, N.C. and from August to December 2007 in Springfield, MO
GenreIndie pop
Length34:53
LabelPolyvinyl Records
ProducerSomeone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin chronology
Broom
(2005)		 Pershing
(2008)		 Let It Sway
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
30Music.com8.3/10 link
AbsolutePunk.net90% link
Allmusic link
Pitchfork Media6.2/10 link
Spin link
XLR8R link

Background and production

The album's name refers to John J. Pershing Middle School in Springfield, Missouri, which Philip Dickey attended.

The track "HEERS" references the Heers Building which is also located in Springfield, Missouri.

The album's production is more refined than the lo-fi Broom, but retains the doubled vocals, moving bass lines, and clean guitar lines played by electric and acoustic guitars from the former album.

The album is dedicated to the bands' lifelong friend, Alex Bethurem, a Chicago area indie music fan (originally from Springfield, MO), who took his own life.[2]

A pre-order edition of the album featured exclusive original artwork and three bonus tracks. The first two are demo acoustic songs: an early draft of The Beach Song, I Didn't Mean it; and Stain, a cover of the Nirvana song.[3]

Reception

The album received internet buzz as well as favorable online reviews on indie music blogs.[4] Taylor from the music blog Music for Ants said "It’s got that jangly pop that fans have grown to love, and the melodies are still top-notch."[5] One Amazon.com customer review describes it as "Quirky chord changes amid massive hooks and addictive melodies."[6]

On the other side, Pitchfork gave the album a 6.2/10, stating "Pershing is so easy-going it tends to forget trying to be memorable."[7] AllMusic gave Pershing 2.5/5.0 stars, calling it "a boring, careless record that tries too hard to be witty and hooky, resulting in something that resembles the indie-hipster version of the nameless college-guy jam band."[8]

Track listing
  1. "Glue Girls" - 3:26
  2. "Boring Fountain" - 3:44
  3. "Dead Right" - 2:21
  4. "The Beach Song" - 2:48
  5. "Modern Mystery" - 4:20
  6. "Some Constellation" - 3:12
  7. "Think I Wanna Die" - 2:49
  8. "You Could Write a Book" - 3:13
  9. "Oceanographer" - 4:45
  10. "HEERS" - 3:26
  11. "Doris Tailspin (Boring Mountain)" - 0:56

Personnel

The band members are credited as follows.

  • John Robert Cardwell - vocals, guitar, bass, trumpet, belly charms
  • Philip Dickey - vocals, guitar, drums, piano
  • Jonathan James - drums, bass, guitar, piano, synth, crystals
  • Will Knauer - guitar

Additional musicians
  • Brian Azevedo — acoustic guitar on Oceanographer
  • Molly Healey — strings on Dead Right
  • Becky Thomas — hand claps on Dead Right, cowbell on Glue Girls

Production
  • Recorded and mixed by SSLYBY and Jason Spell between March 2007 at Fred's Loft in Wilmington, N.C. and from August to December 2007 in Springfield, MO.
  • Engineered by Jonathan James
  • Mastered by TW Walsh

References
  1. "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Prep New LP", Dave Maher, Pitchfork Media, January 15, 2008.
  2. University of Chicago's Maroon Magazine article on Alex
  3. Polyvinyl Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. SSLYBY at the Hypemachine
  5. "Music for Ants post". Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  6. Amazon customer reviews
  7. Pitchfork Pershing Review
  8. Pershing Review on AllMusic
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