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Ears Wide Open: The Red Button pops off

10:29 AM PT, Aug 7 2007

[Another installment in our series highlighting local music:]

Theredbutton_2The Red Button presses all the right buttons for fans of pure pop. Its album, "She's About to Cross My Mind," sounds as if it should be crackling out of an AM radio, the tunes of some youngsters angling to be the next Fab Four. Yes, it's hopelessly retro, right down to its very mod sleeve, but the record's easy psychedelia and friendly Merseybeat go down easily. Even the Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show tabbed "Cruel Girl" as its No. 1 song last week.

It's no surprise that the duo pushing all the buttons here are veteran songwriters Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg. Swirsky, a longtime songwriter-for-hire who made his first solo album a couple years ago, is also an artist and well-known collector of sports memorabilia. Ruekberg was the driving force behind the Minneapolis pop band Rex Daisy. Together they explore their love of all things jangly, harmonic and Beatles.

||| The Red Button perform as an acoustic duo tonight at Spaceland as part of the 10th annual International Pop Overthrow festival. Astra Heights and the Prix are among the other bands on the bill.

||| Download: "Cruel Girl."

Photo of Mike Ruekberg, left, and Seth Swirsky courtesy of Luck Media.

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They rocked last night at Spaceland -- like songs you don't hear anymore. Great show.

Love the Red Button and Seth's previous CD "Instant Pleasure."

The Red Button's top two friends on MySpace are Jane Asher and Rene Magritte. McCartney-style thumbs up to that one.

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About the Blogger
Kevin Bronson
Kevin Bronson has covered emerging and indie music since 2002 in his weekly Buzz Bands column in the Calendar Weekend section of the L.A. Times. He adores caffeine, judicious use of falsetto and the 6-4-3 double play. He abhors exclamation points, modern country and any notion that New York City is the center of the cultural universe. He's older than any music blogger he knows but has been known to pogo. He'll try not to pretend.

Bronson's Buzz Bands show can be heard Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific time on the Internet radio station LittleRadio.com.

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