Best Beach Boys / BW album NOT by the BB / BW

[the captain]

Luther: It does matter if bands and musicians are able to have careers doing what they love. Do you think the Beach Boys -- or any other popular band, for that matter -- would have been able to continue making elaborate studio albums without a broad public buying them?

The counter-argument, I suppose, is that music shouldn't be a full-time occupation anyway -- or if it is, it should be like the classical world, where composers generally work in academia or in soundtracks to subsidize their more purely creative endeavors.

A lot of musicians make relatively elaborate albums now without the broad public buying them. They do it through self-financing a lot more, getting most of their touring and merch profits and of course the beauty of home-based equipment. I know that's where some people start arguing about quality, but not me. Power to the artist. As for subsidized art ... problematic for me. Nice to think you don't have to work (otherwise), but I don't like government influence on what is good or worthy art (or religion or etc.).

[buddhahat]

There isn't much there worth paying attention to, in my opinion.

How about the beautiful melodies, for one? On Person Pitch, Noah Lennox manages to write better pop hooks than anyone else I have heard recently. Listen to Take Pills for example: the second melody that crossfades in after a couple of minutes is stunning. The fact that it's so modestly concealed within the track makes it all the more compelling.  These kind of melodies are scattered throughout Strawberry jam too. I too have a problem with soundalike bands, but I think Person Pitch is more than that. PB is taking the familiar sound of Pet Sounds and Spector and deconstructing it through repetition, use of incongrous samples etc. to create something altogether new and original, whereas a band such as Explorer's Club (probably an unfair comparison) I would agree is derivative to the point of being not much more than a tribute act. Just my opinion of course. I certainly wouldn't describe the AC as a soundalike band, although maybe you weren't.

As an afterthought, I mention that Panda Bear deconstructs the sound of Pet Sounds but that makes it sound like an intellectual exercise and I don't view AC or Panda Bear as an intellectual band. I think there is something quite studied and intellectual about a band like say the High llamas which, although they are often great, puts me off them a bit. The Animal Collective (and related projects) although 'arty' feels very much like music concerned with feeling and emotion i.e. the heart, over intellectualism i.e. the head. Soundalike bands are ofetn, primarily an intellectual exercise in creating a convincing facsimile, whereas I think the AC is motivated primarily by creating feels (hence the title of one of their albums!) and this puts them genuinely closer to the spirit of Brian Wilson, than a band such as High Llamas, in my opinion.

[Loaf]

Continuing the AC discussion:

i would completely agree that AC are not a 'soundalike' band, (so if you are looking for more surf n' car tunes, this isn't the place) but, as JCarson put it:

Certain tracks put me in the same emotional place as the best Beach Boys output.

For us people who frequent this board, i presume because of the feeling we get from the BBs, you can't ask any more than this.

Sort of contradicting what i said above, the most BW-esque moment for me comes from Panda Bear's (stunning) Bros (meaning Brothers, not the boy band), just listen to the way he sings the line "I'm not trying to forget you, Whoa oh OH" - it's tossed out there like Brian at his melodic and compositional peak.

A BW-AC collaboration would likely bring about the second coming.

[Aegir]

She & Him reminds me a lot of the Beach Boys, especially "Sentimental Heart" and "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here".

[mrski]

Several albums produced by Gary Usher after The BBoys had hit. (Heard one, you've heard them all... Well, almost...)

I don't understand this sentiment for the life of me. Give me Surf Route 101 or give me death...

So I guess to don't subscribe to the notion that (in part) during the surf/rod boom years Usher basically took the largely commercially successful characteristics of BBoy records and saturated the market with similar sounding products/cover versions in the hope of achieving a similar level of success?!

Looking forward to Pop Surf Culture btw, can you give us a link where we can get an idea of what to expect? Or can you give us a condensed nutshell description only here as not to derail...?

[brianc]

mrski,

One, I think Gary Usher was part of the shaping of the early Beach Boys sound, having written and recorded songs before Brian and the Boys released their music, and also having written songs with Brian during the first projects of the Beach Boys. Gary's productions were exploitation in nature, no arguing that. I just happen to think, when it clicked, Usher was incredible. Listen to "Midnight Run" by the Superstocks. Much as I love the Pyramids, I think Usher's version is better. As to the notion of oversaturation, I'm not exactly sure how much of Usher's exploitation work got that far out there. A lot of that stuff was sold at Woolworth's or given away as promotional items. Gary's best work... the Beach Party soundtracks, the Superstocks and the Hondells... well, I think there was real artistic integrity there. His production talents shown all the more when he worked with the Byrds and his own Sagittarius. But for me, even his exploitation records are all well-produced.

Pop Surf Culture... it traces the history of surf in film, art, publishing, music and fashion from the dawn of the 20th Century to the present, with the major focus being the more pop/bohemian elements seen in drawings of Rick Griffin. As for Beach Boys content, there will be about ten pictures not published elsewhere, and a lot of insight into the environment that birthed their music-making. There's also a chapter on Smile and an ad for the Radiant Radish. Hope that didn't derail.

[Wirestone]

Luther -- When I said subsidized, I meant that the artist himself or herself would pay for their art through outside work. Not that they would get a government grant or something.

But I do think that what the Beach Boys are -- what Brian Wilson is -- is hugely shaped by the context of popular music. That is, there is such a thing as a stream of music that is listened to and enjoyed by a broad swath of the public. I think the loss of that -- and we are losing it -- profoundly changes our culture and the meaning of the music made within it.

[the captain]

Certainly it reduces shared experience, as do many other things we do in our times and places: iPod in public, not conversation; alone in front of a computer instead of out with [whoever]; and so on. And yes, segmentation of music is a part of that: listen to what you like with people like you who like it. Avoid others. I don't know about plusses and minuses, but it changes things.

[mrski]

mrski,

One, I think Gary Usher was part of the shaping of the early Beach Boys sound, having written and recorded songs before Brian and the Boys released their music, and also having written songs with Brian during the first projects of the Beach Boys. Gary's productions were exploitation in nature, no arguing that. I just happen to think, when it clicked, Usher was incredible. Listen to "Midnight Run" by the Superstocks. Much as I love the Pyramids, I think Usher's version is better. As to the notion of oversaturation, I'm not exactly sure how much of Usher's exploitation work got that far out there. A lot of that stuff was sold at Woolworth's or given away as promotional items. Gary's best work... the Beach Party soundtracks, the Superstocks and the Hondells... well, I think there was real artistic integrity there. His production talents shown all the more when he worked with the Byrds and his own Sagittarius. But for me, even his exploitation records are all well-produced.

Pop Surf Culture... it traces the history of surf in film, art, publishing, music and fashion from the dawn of the 20th Century to the present, with the major focus being the more pop/bohemian elements seen in drawings of Rick Griffin. As for Beach Boys content, there will be about ten pictures not published elsewhere, and a lot of insight into the environment that birthed their music-making. There's also a chapter on Smile and an ad for the Radiant Radish. Hope that didn't derail.

I would say that, to me, The Superstocks do appear to be somewhat different from what I would consider to be the Usher norm. Some of the instrumentals are stand out pieces, however others I could pass over... 'Wheel Stands' and 'Gridiron Goodie' are two that do it for me!


I'm a Rick Griffin fan, and have been ever since I bought a Challengers album which included one of his comic-books about the band.  Ever see that picture disc he designed for the early 80s revival group The Evaisons? I'd frame it, -if it wasn't such a good record...!

So there's a couple of BBoy pieces, anything to look forward to regarding instrumental bands?

[dogear]

I very much like Usher's Chad and Jeremy, Byrds and Peanut Butter Conspiracy albums, there are some great productions in a variety of styles among his Decca singles, too (unfortunately never released elsewhere).. as far as his surf output is concerned there are admittedly many fillers, although The Revells album is quite good, his own It's A Lie single is great.

[brianc]

I would say that, to me, The Superstocks do appear to be somewhat different from what I would consider to be the Usher norm. Some of the instrumentals are stand out pieces, however others I could pass over... 'Wheel Stands' and 'Gridiron Goodie' are two that do it for me!

Agreed. Every Superstocks album has instrumentals, which, to me, are the stand-out cuts. Although, Surf Route 101 features two songs from the Wilson/Usher soundtrack for Muscle Beach Party.

I'm a Rick Griffin fan, and have been ever since I bought a Challengers album which included one of his comic-books about the band.  Ever see that picture disc he designed for the early 80s revival group The Evaisons? I'd frame it, -if it wasn't such a good record...!

That Evasions record is amazing, and Griffin's art perfectly marries his early bohemian style with his later hippy style. I have the picture disc shown in Pop Surf Culture, in a chapter titled "The Second Wave of Surf Music."

So there's a couple of BBoy pieces, anything to look forward to regarding instrumental bands?

OH, YEAH, man. A lot. "What Was the First Surf Record?," "The Essential Surf Albums," "The Surfer's Stomp Dance Craze," "Surf Music Nightclubs," "The Deauville Castle Club Surf Battle," "Midwest Surf Music," "The East Coast Surf Scene," and more. And to bring it back to the topic of this thread...

There's a chapter on surf exploitation LPs from the '60s, with more examples than I care to admit of "bands" that did Beach Boys knock-offs, circa 1963-65.

[brianc]

Certainly it reduces shared experience, as do many other things we do in our times and places: iPod in public, not conversation; alone in front of a computer instead of out with [whoever]; and so on. And yes, segmentation of music is a part of that: listen to what you like with people like you who like it. Avoid others. I don't know about plusses and minuses, but it changes things.

The digital world has certainly changed things, and made it more egalitarian on so many levels. But there is also a general negative tone that has pervaded music journalism since the punk era, but especially from the mid-'90s on. There was a period where everyone was so ironic, and I'm not sure sincerity has really recovered, though the documentary about the Dixie Chicks made me think that people are craving more sincerity. This devotion to sub-culture is to be admired on one level, but on the other, it makes for this bitter-faced cynicism which I can't help but think is unhealthy. And maybe that's what has killed the interest in popular music also being really amazing and personal. Big choruses and anthems are, by nature, simplistic, but what I love about them is their simplicity. A song like "All You Need Is Love" is simple by neccesity.

[The Shift]

Okay, hands up, I'm a chump – I've only just now got hold of a copy of the album Channel Surfing, by Alan Boyd.

Alan understands the Beach Boys' music better than the Beach Boys do!

Terrific, empathetic music.  Well written, well produced and well performed. Well well well!

[Alex]

And I really need to check out that Animal Collective record.

My two pennies worth...

I really loved Person Pitch and Strawberry Jam. Certain tracks put me in the same emotional place as the best Beach Boys output. There's the weird shouldn't work but does work throwing together of sounds, the sudden shifts in tempo and instrumentation. Winter's Love from Sung Tongs is also superb (but the rest of the album, for me, does not quite reach the same standard). Some of the AC/Panda Bear output has the same intense yearning quality that I hear in so much of the Beach Boys music.

And I know already that others will passionately disagree!

C'est tout.

No totally agree. I saw them live and they were amazing. They are the only new band that comes close to the genius of peak Brian Wilson. That doesn't mean that they sound the same, or if you like Pet Sounds you will like Animal Collective. I just find that a lot of new music that is derived from The Beach Boys can sound a bit overly derivative and pastiche-ey (sorry don't know the correct word there), whereas the Animal Collective sounds both new and exploratory, AND obviously influenced by Brian Wilson at the same time. For the uninitiated, I'd say Person Pitch by Panda Bear (a member of AC) is the best access point, after that Sung Tongs and Strawberry Jam.

No love for Merriweather Post Pavillion?

AC tends to remind me a lot of "Mama Says", "Heroes and Villains Part 2", "Whistle In", The Hawaiian chant from "Worms", "Little Pad", "She's Goin' Bald", even "Wake the World", and even Beatles songs like "Wild Honey Pie" and "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?".

[Peter Reum]

I would second the post above about Channel Surfing. It is a wonderful collection of tunes that at times do the Beach Boys better than they do.

[Awesoman]

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15328.0.html