The duo’s latest album, “As Far as Yesterday Goes,” continues the Beatles-esque harmonies cemented on their debut disc, “She’s About to Cross My Mind.”

The new disc remains retro down to its fab cover photo, a glimpse of a mod harpist playing in a field of honey-wheat grass. But there’s nothing moldy about the melodies spread across this luminous 12-track release.

The Red Button’s Mike Ruekberg and Seth Swirsky share lead vocal duties once more, with the latter’s voice the silkier of the two. Ruekberg’s gentle rasp comes in handy on the opening track, “Caught in the Middle.” A harmonica blast sets things in motion as Ruekberg recalls a stunner with two many male options, much to the narrator‘s chagrin.

“Picture,” arguably the album’s emotional peak, recalls how a forgotten snapshots triggers remorse over a romance all but over. A cautious piano opening gives way to Swirsky pining for one last chance.

“I thought of all the things I never got to say… I had words but I lost ‘em,” he sings, regret and reality burnishing the moment.

Some songs jump off the disk, like a giddy portrait of romantic angst called “I Can’t Forget.” The beauty of Button’s best tracks lies in their stubbornness. You’ll be humming “I Can’t Forget‘s” chorus seconds after it roars out of your speakers, but you’ll need to hear it over and again to suss out its audio delights. Credit the duo’s lush production that make every listen a fresh experience. The Red Button knows exactly where to deposit a sugary backing vocal or perfectly attenuated guitar riff.

“Girl, Don’t” plays out in conventional fashion, lulling you toward a paint by numbers finale that never arrives. Ruekberg and Swirksy ditch expectations with a fade away plea for a reunion that will never be.

“Sandreen” shakes up the duo’s musical palette, nudging the album into the early 1970s. An insistent bass line sets up the choruses until Swirsky shushes them to a halt. That casual touch may have take a dozen takes to nail, but it plays out like a pair of musicians giddy with their own musical gifts.

“Easier” captures a lover’s quarrel in the album’s most efficient verse structure. It’s a cry for peace set against moody guitars and a kiss of percussion. But “She Grows Where She’s Planted” starts off like a giant lyrical overreach before turning into a freshly tilled look at that rock staple, the unattainable beauty.

“She blooms in the morning and sways so gracefully,” Swirsky sings before yet a lush arrangement washes over us. Just when you think “as far as yesterday goes” can’t get any lovelier, another layered harmony crests over the sound mix.

If pressed to pick a throwaway track one might finger “You Do Something to Me,” but it’s hand-clapping elan makes such criticism sound churlish.

The beauty of both Red Button albums is how current they feel despite their ‘60s era influences. It’s one thing to mimic an era or ape its stylistic touches. A million cover bands do that well enough, thank you.

But The Red Button gleans inspiration from the past to make music that feels oddly at home in 2012 – and beyond.

“I don’t care what the tabloids and the Wall Street Journal say,” said a weeping Illinois. “I still love you, Cali!”

The 640-mile long funeral parade route was lined with flowers, candles, teddy bears, and IOUs from millions of mourners and debtors who made the somber journey to watch the passing of the state that had once ruled the box office and industrial charts. Among them were current chart-toppers who cited California as a key influence.

“If it wasn’t for California, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Arizona of Westside 3, the popular Sunbelt trio who recently benefited from the late state’s generous gift of fleeing taxpayers and businesses. As a tribute to their mentor, Arizona vowed the group would start spending money “like crack-addled hip hop stars.”

“California’s financial and musical legacy will never die,” said band mates Nevada and Oregon.

At the official funeral service at the LA Coliseum, a grief stricken Washington, who teamed with California on several hit software and wine projects, had to be physically restrained from climbing into the deceased’s gold plated casket.

Similar emotional outpourings were the rule of the day. Stories – apocryphal or not – of the late state’s bizarre self-destructive behavior and fondness for molesting children did little to dampen the flood of tributes from fans who preferred to remember California as America’s Sweetheart.

From a humble beginning as a water-poor remote Spanish mission outpost, California proved to be a precocious and talented child performer. It struck gold with ‘Sutter’s Mill’ in 1849, earning accolades and attracting millions of crusty bearded prospectors. Black gold soon followed with ‘Arizona.’ Unlike many child acts, California made a smooth transition to adolescence, scoring a major hit with ‘Agriculture’ in 1891.

Even a frightening bout with tremors did not stop the flow of hits. The 1915 megasmash ‘Hollywood’ broke all records, as did the wartime favorite ‘Aerospace.’ More recently, California topped the charts with ‘Tourism,’ ‘High Tech,’ and ‘Coastal Pretension.’

For a time it seemed as if the superstar could do no wrong, but behind the glittering facade of Disneyland Manor troubling signs of mental instability began to emerge. The state developed a well-publicized drug problem during filming of 1967’s ‘Summer of Love,’ and briefly dabbled in strange religious cults. Under the influence of spiritual guru Jerry Brown, it began wholesale experimentation in exotic spending programs, eventual resulting in a traumatic 1979 stay at the Prop 13 Rehab Center.

During the 80’s and 90’s California enjoyed a brief career renaissance with hits like ‘Olympics,’ ‘Real Estate’ and ‘Dot Com Boom,’ but personal problems plagued the reclusive star once again. During the recording of the ‘OJ’ and ‘Rodney King’ albums, friends and visitors expressed concern over its recurring tremors and penchant for self-mutilation.

“California used to be so happy and beautiful,” said a horrified Ohio. “I hardly recognize it any more.”

During that period, camp insiders say the increasingly psychotic state began driving away its long time professional management team and support crew. In its place, it assembled an entourage of con men and embezzlers, some of who stoked California’s increasingly bizarre environmental paranoia. It was seldom seen in public without a breathing mask to ward off imagined pollutants.

Worse, the hits began drying up; the huge 2001 flop ‘Dot Com Bust’ put a huge crimp into California’s once unlimited cash flow. Despite the setback, insiders say the superstar was unwilling to change its lavish lifestyle, and retreated once again into spending abuse. Personal expenses skyrocketed, propelled in part by California’s eight million adopted foster children. During the 90’s sensationalistic accounts of child abuse began surfacing. Eyewitnesses reported California cruising local neighborhoods in school buses, luring unsuspecting kid for sessions of ‘public education.’ By some estimates hundreds of thousands were left traumatized and severely brain damaged.

The charges were vigorously denied by California camp spokestate Vermont.

“California loves children,” said Vermont. “California loves children, because deep inside California is a also a child — full of innocent wonder, and the belief that any budget wish can come true as long as you just wish hard enough.”

True or not, the charges alienated many longtime fans, leaving California in an ever-worsening financial position. In 2003 the state rejected suggestions that it was facing bankruptcy, saying that “I can’t be out of money, I still have checks left.” Amid the maelstrom, though, it fired tour manager Grey Davis who many blamed for California’s financial woes. In his place, California hired Arnold Schwarzenegger to help engineer a career-saving comeback tour.

Under the management of the flamboyant Austrian body builder / therapist, California began a rapid descent that ultimately ended in death. Some faulted Schwarzenegger’s unconventional therapeutic methods and prescription spending pills, including state pension steroids that some say were powerful enough to kill a Scandinavian industrial power. Schwarzenegger denied culpability, saying that his spending pills “help build de upper financial torso and lats, and deese other sings and so on.”

Despite the last minute financial maneuvers analysts say the state died penniless, owing creditors as much as $100 billion. Amid the swirling recriminations between California camp factions, fans chose to mark it’s passing quietly. Longtime California fan club president Iowa said that despite being the constant butt of the Golden State’s insults and jokes, it will remember the late superstar fondly.

“Let’s not remember California as a bloated, rotting freakshow corpse hanging above a filthy public pension toilet,” it said. “Let’s remember the good times. Like my six-day bender at the ‘91 Rose Bowl.”

“California’s pain is finally over, and I like to think that the whole state is going to a better place,” Iowa added. “Just look at all those U-Hauls headed to Oklahoma.”