Beach Boys songs - the same?

[mikeyj]

Every so often I will show my friends a Beach Boys song. I don't want to go too over the top and bombard them with song after song but every few months I will just play one or two lesser known cuts. Well anyway, every time I show them a song a lot of the time they will say "this song sounds exactly the same as Song A".. For example I played The Warmth of the Sun to one of my friends and he just said "this sounds like Surfer Girl"... now to me and you guys those two songs couldn't be more different!! But why does he think that? I mean even the backing vocals aren't totally trademark Beach Boys in that they sound a lot more melancholy than usual. But the song is an all time classic as far as I'm concerned. Of course he doesn't have to like it but to say "this is just like Surfer Girl is a little puzzling"....it just seems that once they know its Beach Boys they just write it off before it's even been played. I could be wrong but I think that is probably true in a lot of cases. Does this happen to anyone else? Just a bit annoying!!...

[the captain]

I write it off to unfamiliarity, just as people often think people of other races all look the same, or say all rap sounds the same, or think an unfamiliar sport is just pointless running around. They hear something characteristic--most likely Brian's high voice or close harmonies, because they are immediately identifiable whether you understand music or not--and that's all the whole is to them. If someone isn't paying much attention or doesn't have much background in it, you can expect that reaction, not just with Beach Boys, but with anything.

[37!ws]

Ditto with Luther. Hell, the first time I heard "Cabinessence," I thought they were just trying to do another "Good Vibrations" and rolled my eyes. Wow, if only I knew then what I know now!

[mikeyj]

I write it off to unfamiliarity, just as people often think people of other races all look the same, or say all rap sounds the same, or think an unfamiliar sport is just pointless running around. They hear something characteristic--most likely Brian's high voice or close harmonies, because they are immediately identifiable whether you understand music or not--and that's all the whole is to them. If someone isn't paying much attention or doesn't have much background in it, you can expect that reaction, not just with Beach Boys, but with anything.

Yeah very true Luther. I suppose everyone does it. I was just talking to my friends the other day about how a lot of people think that all other races look the same. Of course that ain't entirely true but there is some truth to it because the first thing you notice is "hey they are Black" or "Asian" or ______ whereas when I see a Caucasian I have to look for some other difference in them like "hey look they have blond hair" or whatever it may be. So that is very true Luther and I even said to my friend "I think it's partly cause of the lead singers voice as he is the same guy on Surfer Girl"... But still it is very annoying even if I do it too!!

[sockittome]

I think it's just the way we process things that are unfamiliar to us.  We try to relate to it by comparing it to something else.  A good example for me is the first time I listened to 20/20, and I thought it was strange that they put "Time to Get Alone" right after "I Went to Sleep".  They're both basically the same song I thought.

Needless to say, I think much differently about it today!

[Beach Boy]

I thought that about "California Girls" and "California Saga 3" too, but they both are 2 different songs, right? 

[Aegir]

My girlfriend, who has heard such songs as "She's Goin' Bald" and "Hold On Dear Brother", claims that all Beach Boys songs sound exactly the same.

[Amy B.]

I think it's also because if you're unfamiliar with a certain band, you focus on one thing, like Brian's voice or Mike's voice, both of which are very distinctive, of course.

I remember my sister playing They Might Be Giants music all the time when I was in middle school. I couldn't stand John Linnell's voice, and it was all I heard. So I thought all their songs sounded the same (even though John L. doesn't even sing lead on all the songs). Then I later became a fan, and of course, all their songs do not sound the same. For non-fans, a band is background music. Non-fans don't care enough to listen for the differences.

[MBE]

My aunt's mentioned that the Beach Boys all sound the same, but I think when someone says that they just don't care for the music.

[Amanda Hart]

I can kind of see where people would think the early stuff (61-64) sounds the same.  Especially the more up beat songs.  A person might be familiar with Fun, Fun, Fun so when they hear Catch A Wave or Hawaii for the first they just hear "the formula" and not the sutble differences.

[MBE]

Well the Beach Boys, Beatles, Dylan, Temptations, Jackson 5, etc. all had a defined sound when they first came out. What made these groups so good though is the quality of each song and performance was in and of itself.