The duo of Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg return after their amazingly popular 2007 debut. The bands British Invasion style is intact, with the addition of Swirsky’s maturing themes he explored so well in his solo work from last year, Watercolor Day.
“Caught in the Middle” picks you up with a note perfect Beatlesque rocker full of Rickenbacker jangle. Mike’s “As Far as Yesterday Goes” is a wistful ballad, done in a lounge style with solid hook in the bridge. Seth’s “Picture” floats on by, light as cloud with gorgeous harmonies like sweet sunshine. “Girl, Dont” brings back the Merseybeat mid-tempo goodness. The shimmering keys open on “Easier” describes a long term relationship and is one of the best tracks on the album, with lots of 70’s stylistic touches… much like the late great Andrew Gold. And that’s where the Red Button goes, from the memorable “On A Summer Day” with solid horns playing off the piano theme during the chorus. “She Grows Where She’s Planted” mesmerizes with a break full of backwards guitars a la “Rain,” its a perfect example of using a Beatles technique without making the song sound like an homage. “Genevieve” is another example of this more mature song style without losing any of its melodicism.
Sonically this album flawless, without a loose note and does the near impossible of topping the debut. So far this is the album to beat this year, as it quickly takes a top spot in my top ten albums of 2011.
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I bought this on vinyl from their website – it’s great that they’ve made the effort to put it out in that format, because the uncompressed sound really brings out the absolutely stellar musicianship on this, in particular, highlighting the electric piano playing and giving grunt and buzz to the guitars. This is quality stuff – and a great recommendation from this site.
Hear hear!