submerse’s 2014 LP slow waves was one of the most impactful records of that year for me. As a foreigner living in Tokyo at the time, slow waves’ echoes of modern urban Japanese life resonated with my deeply. Some of my favorite memories from that summer are at shows where subermse brought his glitchy, soulful, downbeat instrumentals to packed crowds of undeniably happy people. It soundtracked several moments, both formative and mundane.
So it’s no surprise that, upon its release in May, stay home hit me like a ton of bricks. Barely a month removed from my life abroad, and still in the process of readjusting to life in the States, this EP arrived with a flood of forced nostalgia. Upon listening I was immediately transported back to the crowded Metro on a Saturday night, back to the club in Shimokita, back beneath the neon blurred on the EP’s cover image. And listen! There’s the train announcer on “bokeh”! Feel free to roll your eyes.
Nostalgia can be a cheap currency. In some senses, it was almost too perfect, too obvious, too blatant to be genuine. But stay home transcended the momentary utility due to its brilliant arrangements. It hits many of the same sensory receptors as slow waves-- romantic, gooey, introspective-- albeit in a more soulful, nuanced fashion, and I played the shit out of it while staring at a computer screen in a cubicle last summer.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - The High Country
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is one of my all-time favorite bands, and The High Country is maybe their most fun record to date. And for some reason, I find it difficult to write about “fun.” Remember that band Fang Island? Remember their self-titled album, and how they described it as “everyone high-fiving everyone”? That description applies aptly to The High Country-- only one song here breaches the three-minute mark, with nearly every one ripping through its collection of hooks and riffs and fills dutifully and with boundless joy.
SSLYBY has always made music fit for sing-alongs, but I’d argue that The High Country tops their previous output in this category. I will always remember driving around in an almost-dead 1991 Infiniti G20 with half a working stereo, blasting this album on repeat and shouting along to every word.
Favorite song: “What I Won”
Favorite memory: January 26th, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges grants same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry in the United States-- arguably the most significant Supreme Court ruling in my lifetime, the kind of momentous occasion that will spawn “Where were you when ____?” thinkpieces and anecdotes for years to come. On January 26, SSLYBY played at Off Broadway in St. Louis, giving what ended up being one of the most energetic and life-affirming performances I witnessed all year. I went by myself, stood by myself in the middle of the crowd, and smiled so hard for the duration of their set. I sang along to every song, I bounced balloons, I had fun. Halfway through the show, lead man Phil Dickey paused to recognize the landmark ruling that had taken place earlier in the day. It was a rare moment of shared excitement to cheer along with so many strangers, one that I won’t soon forget.
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