Foreign Film or Tango Dance?

Call it peculiar prog rock: New York City-based Pushing Red Buttons lives up to the promise of its moniker by getting under the listener's skin with some positive effect on Foreign Film or Tango Dance? Principal songwriter Steve Herrig is an inventive lyricist, as exhibited by both "Illusion Town" — a quirky blues-rock ode to the mediocrity of White Collar America — and "Girls Gone Stupid." Still, the latter comes dangerously close to Weird Al Yankovic territory as it marvels at the absurdity of the popular Girls Gone Wild video series. At times the group comes off like a whacked-out Deep Purple ("Tripping Over a Four Leaf Clover"), but Herrig, guitarist Rich Gaglia, bassist Rich Chapple, and drummer John DiGiulio also have a deep respect for the Fab Four. If "I'll Tell" is a passable stab at the late-period Beatles sound, it's the mellow psychedelic rocker "All of This and More" that stands out on Foreign Film or Tango Dance? ~ John D. Luerssen, Rovi