So, I know everyone here is always on the lookout, trying to find a band that really sounds like The Beach Boys. Even their major contemporaries, The Beatles, sounded nothing at all like them. There are a couple of Japanese projects from the '70s that really at times sound like if Brian hadn't of spent the 70s in a haze. It sounds sort of like if Brian had used Pet Sound era production on 15 Big Ones/Love You/Adult Child, in fact that's a really great description of this.
Unfortunately they're really really hard to come by. Most Japanese bands that make it big in the states are either experimental groups that become popular in trendy circles, or anime and video game soundtracks. This isn't either, it's sort of Japan's Classic Rock, so I really recommend it.
The first band from the early 70's, late '60s is Happy End, they did a record, Kazemachi Roman, that covered the popular and historical history of Tokyo during a time when the upcoming Olympics were revolutionizing the city. This is like the Japanese Smile, but it sounds just like 1970 Beatles, or like Harrison's first solo album. This is a cover, but it's the only thing I could find on youtube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eutfaty5gVI So imagine that with an electric bass growling underneath, a honky tonk piano and a Lenon guitar solo bridge.
After the band broke up in the mid 70s two of the dudes formed Electric Magic Orchestra, who are famous electronic music pioneers. The other guys went in another direction and started in on their Boys phase with a band Sugar Babe,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctm2fWHtOxc&feature=related The guy who produced that album, Eiichi Otaki, though is really the king of this stuff, but there's nothing on youtube relating to him. His best album is A Long Vacation from '79 or '80, one song on the album even has him singing part of Fun, Fun, Fun.
Though they can be hard to track down, these three albums are really amazing and should be immediately accessible to fans of The Beach Boys.
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