Any singers you can think of that sound like The Beach Boys?

[Don_Zabu]

Didn't think so.

But in all seriousness, are they any singers you can think of that have similar vocal timbre to Brian, Carl, Mike, or anyone else in the band, especially in more modern music?

I guess Panda Bear from Animal Collective kind of sounds like young Brian Wilson (no doubt intentional on his part), but that's about all I can think of.

[stack-o-tracks]

Taylor Hawkins sort of sounds like Dennis on Holy Man.

I think he kinda sounds like a combination Dennis and Carl in this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6GQBPUPuk

[Shady]

The Explorers Club, they want to be the beach boys so bad it's creepy, but I still kinda like them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snBv4xKPtd4

blatant plagiarism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgLiYy5uYhw

[Runaways]

explorer's club is pretty bad.  that top song is bleh. forever is ok tho

[Myk Luhv]

I'm sure I've posted this before but I'll use this thread as an opportunity to post it again. It's a reviewer from allmusic -- Richie Unterberger, I think -- talking about The Sunrays. I think it holds generally for virtually every Beach-Boys-influenced band to come ever-after:

[. . . B]e aware that as was often the case in imitative rock music, the Sunrays were a much more lightweight version of the original model. Imagine the Beach Boys' most superficial and Whitest mid-'60s sides with more mainstream L.A. pop arrangements and you have some idea of where the Sunrays were coming from. The harmonies are accomplished but on the sterile side, with even more of the Four Freshmen influence that colored the Beach Boys' vocal arrangements. [. . .] And, most important, the material is mostly inconsequential, frothy pop [. . .] To be honest, they make the Beach Boys sound gritty, proving that it took more than smooth, high vocal harmonies to capture that group's magic; it also took the complexity and emotional depth of Brian Wilson's compositions and production, which of course couldn't be emulated.

So I don't sh*t on the parade, however, I will offer up some songs that, it seems to me, manage to... if not quite get around this, then are less egregious about the whole influence at least. These are all by Splitsville from their album The Complete Pet Soul. It's an album of Pet Sounds- and Rubber Soul-influenced tracks, initially released as an EP but expanded to a full LP (hence the 'Complete' in the title). For your listening pleasure: "The Popular", "Aliceanna", "Caroline Knows", and "The Love Songs of B. Douglas Wilson". I never said these guys were subtle!

[CenturyDeprived]

Wayne Everett, lead singer of The Lassie Foundation.

They were/are an amazing band from Southern California, very Beach Boys meets My Bloody Valentine, with other pop elements thrown in.

Wayne often sings in a falsetto in a very Brian-esque fashion (very well) which is truly brilliant.
Their best work IMO is the album Pacifico.

Here's a song clip (there's not a lot on youtube to choose from, they have material much better than this too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL5G8PMrcL0

[adamghost]

The bands that try so hard to mimic the Beach Boys sound drive me nuts, because they almost always miss the point, which is the emotional content the sounds evoked.

That said, Alan Boyd has a lot of heart and he has a Wilson thing going on with this voice that's very unforced.  I like it even better, though, when he indulges his love of Nilsson...

[WWDWD?]

As far as singers whose voices sound like members of the Beach Boys (rather than bands that are trying to adopt a similar style)...

I'd have to agree with Don_Zabu. Panda Bear from Animal Collective sounds a lot like a mixture of Brian and Al at the same time. This is best demonstrated in the song Comfy In Nautica http://youtu.be/25_gjUbvqNg

Taylor Hawkins does do a good Dennis too.

The main vocalist from The Besnard Lakes has a decent falsetto that occasionally sounds a little bit Brain (without trying to) http://youtu.be/C5i3z2Wv-Qs

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[Don_Zabu]

As far as singers whose voices sound like members of the Beach Boys (rather than bands that are trying to adopt a similar style)...

-ahem-

[kookadams]

I always thought Joe King from the Queers had somewhat of a Mike Love tone to his voice.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Alan Boyd.

Christian Love (although he does have a decided genetic advantage).

[Scotty]

Papa Doo Run Run - IMHO always been a better live band than the Beach Boys.  I remember a quote by Don Bleu who said "They sound more like the Beach Boys than the Beach Boys do!"

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Brian: Jason Lytle
http://youtu.be/R8qkrNaxt_c

Dennis: Bono
http://youtu.be/co6WMzDOh1o

Carl: Thom Yorke
http://youtu.be/pKd06s1LNik

Mike: Michael Stripe
http://youtu.be/xQN7A6Vl1H4

Imagine these 4 guys coming together!

[Don_Zabu]

Brian: Jason Lytle
http://youtu.be/R8qkrNaxt_c

Dennis: Bono
http://youtu.be/co6WMzDOh1o

Carl: Thom Yorke
http://youtu.be/pKd06s1LNik

Mike: Michael Stripe
http://youtu.be/xQN7A6Vl1H4

Imagine these 4 guys coming together!

Jason Lytle: Holy crap, it's uncanny.

Bono: ...yeah, I don't think so.

Thom Yorke: Totally what Carl would sound like if he was a wafer-thin lethargic Englishman.

Michael Stipe: ...are we listening to the same Michael Stipe?

[rab2591]

This guy sounds like every one of the Beach Boys at the exact same time:

http://www.youtube.com/user/dmcguire70#p/u

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Brian: Jason Lytle
http://youtu.be/R8qkrNaxt_c

Dennis: Bono
http://youtu.be/co6WMzDOh1o

Carl: Thom Yorke
http://youtu.be/pKd06s1LNik

Mike: Michael Stripe
http://youtu.be/xQN7A6Vl1H4

Imagine these 4 guys coming together!

Jason Lytle: Holy crap, it's uncanny.

Bono: ...yeah, I don't think so.

Thom Yorke: Totally what Carl would sound like if he was a wafer-thin lethargic Englishman.

Michael Stipe: ...are we listening to the same Michael Stipe?

Yeah, I wasn't totally sold on Thom York sounding like Carl. I can't really think of modern singers that sound like him.  But I do thing Michael and Bono do resemble quite a bit.

[Amy B.]

Mike: Michael Stripe
http://youtu.be/xQN7A6Vl1H4

Imagine these 4 guys coming together!

Michael Stipe sounds like Mike Love? Not the Michael Stipe I've been listening to since I was a teenager! Look up "Oh My Heart" by REM and tell me that sounds like Mike Love.

[Denni]

Taylor Hawkins sort of sounds like Dennis on Holy Man.

I think he kinda sounds like a combination Dennis and Carl in this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN6GQBPUPuk

You're right

[MBE]

A Uk singer Billy Nicholls sounds like them circa Pet Sounds. His Would You Believe is a fantastc LP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLR-Ijsfs1k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUkaeqnLGmM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RudeFxLstiI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXajMnidL38&feature=related

[brother john]

The Explorers Club, they want to be the beach boys so bad it's creepy, but I still kinda like them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snBv4xKPtd4

blatant plagiarism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgLiYy5uYhw

Yes, its uncanny how much like BW Jason Brewer sounds at times.

But I love The Explorers Club. I don't see them as rip-offs, and while their lyrics are almost universally lightweight, the sound the band produces is amazing, and they are great songs that do have emotional depth, for me anyway.

[hypehat]

Personally, I listened to The Explorers Club album and could not stop laughing! Especially 'Do You Love Me', where I had a bit of a moment then started singing 'It's Ok' along with it, or the second track of the record and 'Mess Of Help'.... I mean, those guys know exactly what they're doing.

[bsten]

Kayla Williams !!!
The female side of the Beach Boys - listen to the harmonies - she does all the vocals herself!!!
www.kaylawilliams.com

- listen here -
http://www.youtube.com/user/kaylawilliamsmusic
- click on "show all"
(there are about 20 BB covers - all awesome!)


Carter Cathcart
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/carterc

- listen here -
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/carterc/excerpts.ram
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/carterc/ido.ram

 

[The Shift]

First time I heard the Irish singer Brian Kennedy on the radio I thought Carl had gone solo (again).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0auyw06rSgQ

[punkinhead]

Fleet Foxes

[bsten]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b16Ubm3gbLI