Reviews
samantha paine | london, england | 05/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"2005 Pop Album of The Year nominee, L.A. Music Awards.
"Fifth Beatle? Seth Swirsky has recorded a Fab Four - influenced album...a melodic, earnest collection of Beatles - influenced pop."
-Kevin Bronson, Los Angeles Times
"The vibe of this album is just something you have to hear to believe. Bringing up fond memories of such greats as The Beatles, and John Lennon. This is the type of music you play on a hot summer day, with the top down, trucking down the scorching hot interstate. It's just infectious pop music, pure and simple -- A great little slice of pop heaven."
-Trent Moore, Aversion.com
"This release is to the music connoisseur what a gourmet meal is to the hungry restaurant patron -- fulfilling, satisfying, and memorable. "It's Still Love" shows why Seth Swirsky has been referred to as the fifth Beatle. "
-Madd, Evilsponge.org
"...highly pleasurable, low-key pop, often venturing into very stunningly pretty chamber-pop territory."
-Amplifier Magazine
"He'll win fans with his candor (and) understated vocals that work perfectly with his eccentric lyrics. Hammond B3 organ, cello, violin, mandolin, flute and layered vocal harmonies create a production rivaling Revolver-era Beatles.
Overall, Swirsky delivers an album of flawless pop songs. Check it out for some instant-and lasting-pleasure."
-Performing Songwriter Magazine
"Seth writes with the same intimacy that can be found on my favorite tracks from Lennon/McCartney, sixties Paul Simon and more recently Elliott Smith. By the end of the album you feel as if you spent a week at his house guest. I host an all Beatles show yet I play Seth's CD...need I say anymore?"
-Chris Carter, Breakfast with the Beatles, 97.1 KLSX, Los Angeles
"Talk about your instant pleasures! Heh! It seldom gets as immediate as this, boys and girls. Like honey dripping from the beehive, Swirsky pours it on thick and sweet with healthy dollops of pristine power pop. Sophisticated melodies, simple productions and a straightforward delivery will guarantee the sugary pop high only the best pop tunesmiths can dispense. The fact that the Rembrandts and Andy (Jellyfish) Sturmer guest star is mere icing on the cake."
-Kevin Mathews, Nighttimes.com
"Seth's voice is clear, pleasant and understated, never detracting from these uber-catchy melodies and intriguing lyrical portraits."
-Gary Glauber, PopMatters.com
"Swirsky's debut solo album is stocked deep with 11 masterfully crafted, first-class songs that will get inside your head and go so deep, they're likely to grow roots.Mind you, an album so rooted in the pure pop aesthetic isn't an easy creation; if it were, everybody with a guitar would make one just like it. Songwriting smarts this, well, smart, are hard to come by, and harder still to make work for 11 straight songs, but Swirsky, the musical magician, does, and in grand style."
-Alan Haber, Buhdge.com
"...'Butterfly on Jupiter' could have easily turned up on Sgt. Pepper in one incarnation or another."
-Johnny Suede, NoHo LA Magazine
"...a mini-opera, brilliantly utilizing strings, woodwinds, synthesized sounds, and multi-layered harmonies atop a buoyant rhythm section."
-Tom Semioli, Minor7th.com
"Give this one a listen...YOU WILL BE HOOKED!!"
-Jeff Vallet, Jay Vee Music
"While other popsters sing about love and romance in lofty, gossamer terms, Swirsky is Marvin Gaye, whisper-singing "let's get it on" in no uncertain term. The song structure on Instant Pleasure is so beautiful and delicate...so beguiling and seductive.Chances are that you've already heard a Swirsky-written song on the radio over the past ten or fifteen years. When the pendulum eventually swings back towards sanity and away from the dreck that currently dominates the industry, bet on hearing Seth Swirsky singing one of his own songs on your local FM station. Instant Pleasure provides just that, the album marking the emergence of a talented wordsmith and craftsman working in a classic '60s-styled songwriting vein."
-Kevin Gordon, Alt-Culture Guide, mondogordo.com
"...a combination of pop, rock and folk that is delicate and comforting."
-Dina Mystris, Subba-Cultcha.com
"Chock full of sumptious harmonies, stick in the brain choruses, witty lyrics, and swooning melodies, Instant Pleasure evokes all the great pop merchants both old school (the Beatles, the Kinks, Big Star) and new (Eels, Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne)."
-Gina, EOMentertainment.com
"...both decadent and humble; one part Paul McCartney, two parts Noel Gallagher; a lyrical poet, a whimsy poet."
-Erick Mertz, CosmikDebris.com
"From the opening riff to the last chord, this is high quality stuff that you really shouldn't miss out on. An instant classic."
-PopBang.com
"This album sounds like the Spin Doctors, like Jude, like Sondre Lerche...a poppy, sensitive-guy crooner..."
-JR, Impact Press
"Nicely orchestrated, Swirsky's work is one of those 'tis about time!' recordings."
-phenomeNEWS.com
"Swirsky's story-telling style is engrossing."
-Valley Scene Magazine
"A well-produced, modern, clever pop album"
-Modern.net
"Truly a renaissance man in the classic sense, it's his songs that are his forte and will garner him the ultimate fame and admiration."
-Smother.net
"...a strong, pleasing effort that melds classic styles with the contemporary power-pop genre."
-Liam Thomson, StateofEmergency.net
"...awash in harmony and melody, a throwback to the sounds of more idealistic decades gone by...laced with Beatle spirit, complete with George Harrison-style guitars and dreamy backing harmonies...A beautiful, understated honey of a pop record."
-John Borack, Fufkin.com
"...an Elvis Costello-like tenor. The tracks are perfectly pieces of popular culture, mixing in strong Beatles and shoe-gazer pop (Herman Cherry) in an inoffensive style of music that will reach the largest group in society."
-Neufutur.com
"...irresistible power-pop songs...a distinctly Beatlesque collection, richly textured and crafted.
-David Kidman, NetRhythms.co.uk
"An album full of moments that effortlessly steal you away into the beautiful scenes that Swirsky constructs. Instant Pleasure showcases extraordinary talent and something that has been missing from music at large: depth of content surrounded by irresistible sounds, beautiful, rich and warm and filled with expression. Yes!"
-Bruce Brodeen, NotLame.com
"...the laconic vocals, buoyant melodies, and the occasional admissions of awkward self-doubt make it charming."
-Ian Viggers, Joyzine.co.uk
"One of the best power pop cds to come out this year. Seth Swirsky sounds like a perfect blend of Beatles, Jellyfish and Merrymakers. Fantastic and essential!"
-Jeremy Morris, JamRecordings.com"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1