The Smiley Smile Message Board

Not a real twofer but grouping these two chronologically as with the previous Shut Down 2 vs All Summer Long poll.

My vote goes to Surfer Girl.

Surfer Girl, and In My Room?
Can't go wrong with that.

I'm probably one of the few voting for LDC. Why? While i appreciate Surfer Girl, I've just never been a huge fan of it. I did hear the album first as well, albeit on a Reel-To-Reel tape that I got before the LP. I also just feel it has a more fun side to it, but 409 and Shut down sort of Kill it for me at times, but only because they sound out of place - still great tracks.

Little Deuce Coupe. Not a weak track on it. One can't say that about Surfer Girl.

Oh, yes I can!  :P

It was easily Surfer Girl for me this time around.  I'd actually argue it's their most consistent album pre-Today, though All Summer Long is still the better album.  Little Deuce Coupe isn't bad by any means, but even if I get past the idea of taking tracks from past albums, the old ones are not big favourites of mine and while a number of the new ones are quite enjoyable, I think there's a lack of a standout track.  Surfer Girl has 3 in my opinion.

In My Room
Your Summer Dream
Surfer Girl
Ballad of Ole' Betsy
The Surfer Moon
Catch a Wave
Spirit of America
Car Crazy Cutie
Our Car Club
Little Deuce Coupe
Hawaii
Cherry, Cherry Coupe
The Rocking Surfer
Be True to Your School
A Young Man is Gone
Surfer's Rule
South Bay Surfer
No-Go Showboat
Custom Machine
Shut Down
409
Boogie Woodie

My thoughts exactly.

SG all day. 

I can dig it, and I love that record as well. But I think the instrumentals are lame in comparison to the previous album's.

Boogie Woodie is pretty disposable, but I can't resist the Rocking Surfer.  Something about that quirky carnival-like organ sound.

I love both records, and it's hard to vote against my faves like "Custom Machine" and "No Go Showboat", but Surfer Girl is so loaded with hits. As for the insturmentals, I actually rather like them. I like the organ and pluck  on "Rockin' Surfer" and Brian showing off the lick Murry taught him on "Boogie Woodie". Nothing wrong with LDC,  no tracks I dont like (well, I sorta prefer "Hearts were Full of Spring" to "Young Man iS Gone") but the presence of "Surfer Girl", "In My Room", "LDC", "Catch A Wave", "Your Summer Dream", etc make Surfer Girl LP too good for me to say no too.

Yerp. "Boogie Woodie" isn't anything special (but certainly isn't offensive at all), but I'm a fan of "The Rocking Surfer" and prefer Surfer Girl overall.

Surfer Girl has great potential in being one of the best early albums of any band. I think it fits right up there w/ With the Beatles. Great covers, good instrumentals that aren't just filling out the album. A lot of "firsts" happened on here, mostly Brian's production credit and totally living up that title. Best group vocals out of the first 4 or 5 albums. Our Car Club, Hawaii, Catch a Wave, Surfer's Rule, Boogie Woodie, Surfer Moon are all great songs and that's not mentioning the singles related tunes.

The group of Surfer Girl, Surfer Moon, Catch a Wave, Hawaii, In My Room and definitely Your Summer Dream are just too much for LDC.  Also big on Our Car Club, but that's on both.

As much as I like Surfer Girl I had to go for Little Deuce Coupe as it flows better as an album. Plus it has A Young Man Is Gone on it, one of my favourite vocals performances by the Boys. Also, it has Custom Machine. And No Go Showboat. And Spirit Of America. And Ballad Of Ole' Betsy. And Cherry Cherry Coupe. And Car Crazy Cutie...

Not attackin' anyone, but I can't follow the whole "Surfer Girl and All Summer Long are their best early albums" or "best pre-Today" shtuff. Sonically different and maybe not quite as "mature" (PFFF), but those two rank right up there with all their other best albums, for me.

He's right, y'know.

Tough one... each LP has 4-5 stand-out tracks and both are good albums. I guess in a personal all-time ranking Surfer Girl would chart higher than Little Deuce Coupe but as of right now I really dig the LDC tunes... "Ballad of Ole' Betsy"! "409"! "Shutdown"! "Our Car Club"!

(http://eil.com/Gallery/210284b.jpg)

Sorry to capitalise on Internet Memes, but i always felt Mike looked lonely on the LDC rear cover...

(http://www.majhost.com/gallery/bionicool123/other/bbfa.jpg)

Nah. He's just too cool a cat to socialise with dorks hanging around in parkin' lots. Look at him smirk.

Surfer Girl every time.
There's no competition  :)

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FekELn6Cqq8/SDSEOFVFw-I/AAAAAAAACL0/vr2fCjJHmmE/s400/Fred_Sanford.jpg)

He doesn't.

Also, there's the fact that Little Deuce Coupe is on BOTH albums - so you skip the song on Surfer Girl but listen to it when it's the title track?

Burn

I'd put them a notch below at least Today!, Pet Sounds, Sunflower, and Holland (and the Smile sessions), but I'd say they're have comparable quality to some of the other albums in the 1965-1973 period.  They're albums that I really like even if they don't quite get to the level of my favourites where nearly every track blows me away.

This is a case where a track-by-track comparison doesn't seem quite fair, as Little Deuce Coupe takes two of the best tracks from Surfer Girl and one of the best from Surfin' U.S.A..  Little Deuce Coupe also has a number of songs have superior alternate versions ("Pamela Jean" for "Car Crazy Cutie," the single version of "Be True to Your School," and I prefer the original lyrics of "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" to "A Young Man's Gone").

In spite of what I just wrote, I will still go with Little Deuce Coupe because I think that its new album tracks are not only excellent, but also demonstrate growth in Brian's abilities as a producer.  I love "The Ballad of Ole Betsy" (even though I've seen lots of people slamming its inclusion on the recent tour) and "Cherry Cherry Coupe" and "Custom Machine" are also both wonderful.  Some of the album tracks on Surfer Girl are also quite strong ("Catch a Wave," "The Surfer Moon," "Our Car Club") but others are not ("South Bay Surfer," "Surfers Rule").

Though I love all of the songs on LDC (and Cherry Cherry Coupe has become one of my favorite songs), Surfer Girl is my choice.

Brian now becomes the producer - and this album shows what a brilliant producer he is.

Definitely. Just listen to "Surfer Girl", "The Surfer Moon" and "In My Room"... brilliant. Timeless production.

Surfer Girl, Hands Down!

Love a majority of the songs, with only one exceptionally awful song (Do I really need to say what it is?)

These earlier albums are so hard for me. They are just TOO similar.