Artist:
SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN
Label:
POLYVINYL RECORDS
Video:
“THINK I WANNA DIE”
Director:
Israel Anthem
Add Date:
April 12, 2008

Howdy indie rock fanatics! It’s Andy Gesner and the staff from HIP Video Promo, proud to bring you this charming new clip. We’ve just turned the clock ahead, the days are getting longer, and the warm weather is right around the corner. For those of you who are still too cold to dare to think about the advent of spring, here’s a clip that ought to help: a May day condensed into three-minute form by Grammy-nominated director Israel Anthem and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Never mind that SSLYBY hardly ever plays conventionally “happy” songs: their melodies are radiant enough to brighten up any cloudy afternoon. That tension between wistful, breezy pop melodies and often-melancholy subject matter is one that will be familiar to bands such as The Shins and Rogue Wave. It made Broom, their debut, one of 2006’s most welcome surprises – and it’s made Pershing, the long-awaited followup, among the underground’s most anticipated albums.

Pershing will be out next month, and fans of lovelorn indiepop are already counting the days. While we’re waiting, we can all dance to “Think I Wanna Die” – a perfect example of the band’s ability to pair the wicked with the sweet. The lead single is a razor-sharp dagger in a jewel-encrusted sheath: the guitars jangle, the drums rattle and bounce, and the members of Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin chant, coo, and harmonize about the unbearable pain of breakups, miscommunication, and unrequited love. Simultaneously aching and inspiring, “Think I Wanna Die” is about as gorgeous as romantic disillusionment is ever going to get. All heartbreak should sound – and feel – so good. And maybe that’s why we love bands like SSLYBY so much: they make the universal experience of relationship trouble seem a little warmer and a little friendlier, and therefore a little easier to bear.

Then again, few of us have ever been dumped as decisively – or as violently – as are the boys of SSLYBY in the clip for “Think I Wanna Die”. On the other hand, few of us are lucky enough to date the three frontwomen of Eisley (even on film!), so perhaps on balance, they’re even. Israel Anthem, who was nominated for a Grammy award for his video work with Mute Math, teases out the playful subtext of SSLYBY’s fatalistic narrative. He pairs an Eisley girl with each member of Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and sets the couples loose on a bright spring morning. It’s breakfast, and each musician eats from a cereal bowl: one at a kitchen table, one on a swing in the park, and one (incredibly) while riding a bicycle down a country road. The girls – all flirty at first – make romantic overtures toward their boyfriends. But they’re eating, or pedaling, or swinging, and, in any event, otherwise engaged. Predictably, the girlfriends become irate, and each takes extreme action. Meanwhile, back in the studio, the members of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are feeling uncharacteristically aggressive, too, but they’re taking it out on their instruments. As the girls slap the musicians’ faces and put arrows through their hearts, the guys trash their guitars, swing cymbal stands, and hit the floor with abandon. The girls, Anthem suggests, “torture” the guys, and the guys pour it all into their music.

Once again, the good folks at Polyvinyl have allowed us to be a part of their promotional efforts, for which we are always appreciative and excited. We have lots of copies of the highly sought after Pershing for on-air giveaway needs. The band will also be touring the country this Spring so drop us a line if you’d like catch up with them for a video interview when they come to your market! If you need more info, call Andy Gesner at 732-613-1779 or e-mail us at info@HIPVideoPromo.com. You can also visit www.PolyvinylRecords.com, or www.SSLYBY.com to find out more about Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

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For info about Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin”s’ previous video, “Pangea” click HERE