Boris Yeltsin: What's Not To Love?

Tonight, the Horseshoe Tavern plays host to the Pitchfork/Secretly Canadian Indie Rock Triple-Header. This is a chance to see three awesome bands you've probably never heard of... but who everyone will be talking about in a few months. If you want to get ahead of the curve, read on.

San Francisco's Birdmonster headline the night. Their sound is giant. Their guitarist famously declared: "Our main goal is to rock so hard one of us faints." Indeed, Birdmonster's first full-length release, No Midnight, is filled with high-energy, '80's tinged punk pop, sounding akin to Franz Ferdinand. Oh, and one of them plays a mean rock 'n' roll banjo.

Torontoist is especially excited to check out the night's openers, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (pictured above). Hailing from Springfield, Missouri, their 2005 self-released debut Broom caught the fickle attention of music bloggers everywhere. Posts were written. MP3s downloaded. Broom even made a few end-of-year best disc lists.

We'll bet that SSLYBY has listened to Nirvana's MTV Unplugged more than once. They certainly evoke the quiet/loud dynamics of acoustic grunge, while adding a heavy dollop of pop sensibility. Songs about lost girlfriends and continental drift. When I ordered SSLYBY's brilliant CD a year ago, it arrived with a handwritten thank you from the band's drummer. Those days are behind them now -- with a new record deal, their debut will be reissued, and available in Toronto shops, on October 24.

(As an aside, SSLYBY are responsible for some incredibly funny, nonsensical powerpoint-style movies about cats. Nothing to do with their music, but hilarious none-the-less.)

Sandwiched between Birdmonster and SSLYBY are American folk rockers Catfish Haven.

Someone Still Loves you go on at 9:30, Catfish Haven at 10:30, Birdmonster at 11:30. Tickets are $10 at the door. Definitely worth checking out.