Review on Fufkin.com

As posted on www.fufkin.com

Does the world need another evocation of the virtues of ‘60s pop music? Well, I suppose not. But if it’s as letter perfect as this slice of bliss from Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg, you very well may need it. What separates the worthless homage from the worthy one can be hard to pin down sometimes. Here, it’s easy to hear why this works — the songs are top notch knock offs, and Swirsky and Ruekberg nail every performance. Yet, to their considerable credit, for all of the attention to detail, this album isn’t too fussed over, and sounds organic. I say this knowing they had to fuss over it a lot to get it this good. But what does it matter when the result is a confection as perfect as “Gonna Make You Mine”, with the Farfisa organ and insistent vocals and equally insistent lyrics. Moreover, they leave no stone unturned in paying homage to upbeat ‘60s pop – this is The Turtles, The Troggs, Del Shannon, Crazy Elephant, and The Clique all rolled up into one. “Cruel Girl” is more Beatleesque. Or maybe Knickerbockeresque. Or some other Fab inspired unit. It’s also quite good. The Button takes some forays into other territory – “Floating By” is a great slice of piano-based Brit pop, old school style, while Free moves into psych-pop territory. A very fun listen.