The Red Button: She's About To Cross My Mind (2007)

Here's a wonderful little power pop gem you might have missed. It's self-consciously Beatlesque, with all the mid-60s, pre-psychedelic British Invasion touchstones you could want. Insistent riffs? Check. Tasteful harmonies? Check. Chiming Rickenbacker guitars? Check. 

The title track is simply perfect. In the weeks since Adam Schlesinger's passing, his fantastic emulation of 60s pop, "That Thing You Do," has received a fond lookback; think of this as a worthy counterpart to that track. Sounds like what could've blown up the charts in 1966 (and should have in 2007).  Opener "Cruel Girl" is cut from the same cloth, another delightful 60s throwback, while "Hopes Up" feels like a bid for inclusion in the Rutles' faux-Beatles catalog. "Floating By" adds some more modern baroque pop flourishes, a bit more on the XTC/Jellyfish side of things with a touch of Burt Bacharach; "I Could Get Used To You" goes all in with the mid-period Beatles (even adding a quick burst of backwards guitar). "Free" has just a hint of Revolver-ish psychedelia.

Anyway, you get the point. Good clean fun, hard not to fall for if you dig a little treble-happy power pop.

Here's the video for "Cruel Girl":
Here's an audio rip of the title track:
Here's a live take on "Hopes Up":

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