Album Notes

“Yeltsin are a solid band from Eugene. They sound sort of like a slightly punker Interpol, without all the posturing. The band isn't out there chasing the dream, trying to pen radio-friendly hits, or getting too experimental. Instead they fire it up, shoot back a couple of beers, talk some shit, and come back with tight, driving songs. Over the years, the members of Yeltsin have been in all sorts of indie bands, punk bands, experimental bands, you name it. After all that, they've gotten it whittled down to a pretty fine point.” Portland Mercury

Biography

“The older guys really got it all worked out.”
-Gram Parsons

For starters, the Oregon based trio does not really like their name. The only good thing about the name Yeltsin for the band is that it is not Neltsin. Neltsin was the name that drummer Jivan shouted across a loud dark Eugene bar in late 2003, as he agreed to join up with Jake and Dana. Somehow the trio ended up as Yeltsin and the name has nothing to do with Boris, or anything else for that matter.

A self titled EP followed, it was blue with birds and flowers on the cover, and featured the first 5 songs the band had written. They tried to play simply, and really just write music that they wanted to hear. The EP was burned on Dana’s computer and many hours were spent at the copy shop cutting covers by hand.

Released in 2005, We Will be a Factory (the title was a motivational reference to Yeltsin's ability to write songs at an amazingly slow pace), was well received by Oregon based music aficionados. The local college radio stations play it and the friends of Yeltsin seemed pleased.

Flash forward almost three years and the Yeltsin factory has a new release! Not exactly a quick turnaround, but if you think about it three years is really not that long when compared to the life of a star in the sky, or for that matter, the shelf life of that jar of maraschino cherries resting in your fridge. The boys think it is urgent, fun and hope that their pals, and the Casas sisters, might give it a listen.