Let It Sway (Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin)

Resenha do Álbum

After pulling double duty as producers and performers on their first two albums, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin handed the production reins over to Chris Walla, who fills the band’s third record with a mix of quirky, lo-fi gloss and nuanced arrangements. Last we heard from the Missouri natives, they were micromanaging the bejeezus out of Pershing, resulting in a pleasant but slightly belabored album that didn’t quite follow through on the promise of their 2005 debut. Let It Sway is a breezy pop record, though, shot through with jangled bits of folk, rock, and alt-country and devoid of the painstaking approach that made Pershing stumble. Free to focus on the music instead of the production, SSLYBY come up with a sound that recalls early Sloan and Fountains of Wayne records, with slightly sloppy guitar solos and thick, double-tracked vocal harmonies drawing the clearest parallel between SSLYBY and the bands they emulate. Walla honors the band’s lo-fi roots by keeping things analog and D.I.Y.-sounding, occasionally tossing in some studio trickery but always doing so in a tasteful, light-handed way. Sometimes, this careful approach serves as a detriment to the bandmembers, who’d do well to crank up their amplifiers once in a while and see what their pop sensibilities sound like at high volume. On the other hand, Let It Sway is the sound of a band doing what it does best, and it’s nice to hear SSLYBY get their groove back.

© Andrew Leahey /TiVo