If you were at the Rock and Roll Hotel Tuesday night, you hit the blogged-out-of-obscurity jackpot. Two very talented, little-known bands from the Midwest, Chicago’s The Changes and Springfield, MO’s Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin gave indie music mavens some fresh material to talk about.

It’s ironic that Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin have such an arty name, because they’re the most unaffected group of guys we’ve come across in a long time. This baby-faced quartet is genuinely geeky.

Hailing the release of their 2005 debut album, Broom, Spin magazine declared that SSLYBY “could succeed the Shins as the band that ‘will change your life’.” It’s easy to see where the Shins comparison comes from: SSLYBY’s songs are heartfelt and thoughtful, and lead singer John Robert Cardwell has the mumbly falsetto of the Shins’ James Mercer.