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I'm wanting to make a mixtape of 13 contemporary songs that capture the "feel" of each of Pet Sounds' tracks and I was hoping you guys could help me!

So far, I'm thinking "Do You Realize??" by the Flaming Lips for "You Still Believe in Me" and "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear for "I'm Waiting for the Day". They're not direct pastiches, but I think some of the arrangements echo those respective tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYOKFjpm9s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjecYugTbIQ

Any further recommendations/suggestions?

Lewis Taylor - Let's Hope That Nobody Finds Us - Let's Go Away For Awhile.

You'll probably find a few listed here:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15953.0.html

"Don't Look Back" by She & Him - there's an instrumental break towards the end that could have been arranged by Brian himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKYF962P-KI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKYF962P-KI)

"Pale And Precious" by The Dukes of the Stratosphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cBcSok7K5Y

I think Waiting For The Time To Be Right by The Brother Kite sounds like specific bits of Pet Sounds, in a more modern context.

http://thebrotherkite.bandcamp.com/track/waiting-for-the-time-to-be-right-2

Let me know if this is the sort of thing you are looking for.

I'm not sure if I expect anyone else to see the similarities that I'm seeing, but I thought I'd post anyways.  :)  (And I'm curious, has anyone on here heard of any of these bands, by chance?)

"I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" = "Old" by Starflyer 59
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8SYuEMZyvk

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" = "Candlelight" by Relient K
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGv0ANmPUm8

"God Only Knows" = "Unwinding Cable Car" by Anberlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5SBYhZyo1s

"Caroline No" = "Fell in Love at 22" by Starflyer 59
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nieGqSUDRWI

I'm not a fan of either, but I know Starflyer 59 and Relient K.  Starflyer has a few BW-esque tunes.  I believe the one I like best is called something like She Plays Drums.  Sort of a shoegazer take on the BW/PS sound.

You may be referring to "Can You Play Drums?", which is off of Starflyer 59's "Leave Here a Stranger" album, which was recorded in mono in reverence to Pet Sounds--really cool album.  Both Starflyer and Relient K cite the BBs as big influences (the latter has even covered a few BBs tunes).

Of course there's Explorers Club that a lot of posters here love to hate.  If you're going for a signature Pet Sounds ape, that's the holy grail. 

mypetsounds, I'm going to check out Starflyer 59 later.  Aside from "Can You Play Drums," can you recommend some other BB-esque Starflyer tracks? 

Raven is probably the better person to ask, but it I recall correctly, there were a few songs on " Leave Here a Stranger"" that had a similar feel, so hunt down that album.

Checked out both Reliant K and Starflyer, and while I kinda dig both, I hear absolutely zero resemblance to the BB sound or Brian Wilson composition.

As mypetsounds suggested: hunt down the album "Leave Here a Stranger".  I'm not exactly sure which aspects of Pet Sounds you're wanting your mix to sound like; that album by Starflyer 59 definitely has arrangements & instrumentation reminiscent of PS, but the vocals are almost entirely different.  I suggested a few tunes by SF59 above--hope that helps, friend!


Relient K was definitely a stretch (though their main songwriter is heavily influenced by the BBs), and I guess I just see "Candlelight" as their WIBN (and I realize I'm merely seeing the comparison as a super-fan of both bands hah).  Starflyer 59, though being in a different genre, has some striking similarities depending on which album of theirs you listen to.  The similarities I see between their "Leave Here a Stranger" and PS: melancholy tunes, mono mix, muted-bass/guitar, some unconventional percussion, string arrangements.

This isn't incredibly "modern" since it's almost 20 years old now, but Weezer's song "Across the Sea" begins a "You Still Believe In Me" intro, which was a specific homage I believe.

I'm really not kidding about this one guys.
http://open.spotify.com/track/3K1ppwaqyDBn54vnsBy7ZP

Wow, thanks for introducing me to Explorer's Club, they're the most Beach Boys-y band ever!  (after the Beach Boys)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfDK36az7sw

Their falsettos sound more like Brain than Jeff Foskett's.

Annnnnnnnd I'm hooked.  Thanks to whomever first posted about Explorers Club on this thread!  They're definitely way more PSesque than any bands I mentioned lol (though Explorers Club is definitely trying to be, for what that's worth).