I reviewed Seth Swirsky’s album, Watercolor Day, and really enjoyed it. So when I heard that Seth Swirsky was involved in another project, I got excited.
His latest project is The Red Button, which consists of Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg. Their first work together was called She’s About To Cross My Mind. Their new album, As Far As Yesterday Goes, includes 12 pop songs. It opens with “Caught in the Middle” which is a strong pop song that sounds a little like The Beatles.
Actually, the whole album sounds like songs that I used to listen to when I was growing up. I felt as if the album took me back to that distant past when life seemed simple and all music was fun and bubble gum pop. I even remember when I was in middle school, these two students walked around the school with their guitars singing CSN and other harmonic melodies. Those days seemed as if there were no worries in the world. This album reminds me of those days.
“As Far as Yesterday Goes,” the title track, has nice harmonies. Actually, the whole album has nice harmonies!
All of the songs were written by both Swirsky and Ruekberg, except “Genevieve”, “Sandreen,” and “Do Something to Me,” which were written by Swirsky.
One of the strongest songs on the album is “Girl Don’t.” In my opinion, it has a strong pop rock beat coupled with harmonies that just make you want to bop up and down in your seat.
“On a Summer’s Day” is a cute playful song. If you go to The Red Button web site, you will see a video of this song. The video starts with a girl walking in a beautiful green field with scattered trees. She walks through the tall grass in her underwear. As she walks, clothes drop from the sky and she puts them on. By mid song, she has practically everything on in this “summer day.” She falls to the ground because the clothes are too heavy and slowly the wind takes the clothes from her and then throws it back down over her. I’m not sure what the video has to do with the song, but it’s cute like the song.
“You Do Something To Me” is a sweet love song that makes you want to sway your body to the beat of the rhythm. I really enjoyed the guitar picking in this song. It’s one of those catchy tunes that you just want to sing along to.
I think my favorite song on the album is “Running Away.” They sing “running away, running away from myself.” It almost reminded me of a cross between Harry Nilsson and Harry Chapin.
All the songs have a “love” theme, are soothing, and have a mellow rhythm. If you love the music from the 1960s and early 1970s, you will love this album.
Article first published as Music Review: The Red Button – As Far As Yesterday Goes on Blog
