Screw Surfing

[Summer_Days]

they pioneered the return to basically produced albums long before John Wesley Harding 

Yep, ONE MONTH is a long time.

Considering that most bands put out 2 or more albums per year back then, compared to artists nowadays taking 2-5 years or more to put out albums...I wouldn't say a long time, but still....

[Mike's Beard]

What music do hipsters listen to? I ask because I have no idea what music is considered hip, trendy or even good these days, nor could I give a flying one. I openly admit I exist in a complete bubble when it comes to my music tastes.

[Gertie J.]

Simple, hipsters listen to hip-hop. If you know what I mean. 

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

What music do hipsters listen to? I ask because I have no idea what music is considered hip, trendy or even good these days, nor could I give a flying one. I openly admit I exist in a complete bubble when it comes to my music tastes.

Dubstep, is what they listen to. IDK what music they listen to though.

[Reddiwhip]

they pioneered the return to basically produced albums long before John Wesley Harding 

Yep, ONE MONTH is a long time.

Considering that most bands put out 2 or more albums per year back then, compared to artists nowadays taking 2-5 years or more to put out albums...I wouldn't say a long time, but still....

Well if you count Smiley Smile released in September, it's more like 3 months, but who's counting?

[I. Spaceman]

But then, of course, we could credit Dylan with never making production records to begin with, and always staying stripped-down, musically. And if we credit The Beach Boys for innovations on Smile, an album never released, we should also credit Dylan for The Basement Tapes.
But really, the whole "they did it FIRST" thing is kinda silly in general. There's always someone who did something first, before anyone we have actually heard of.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

The Beach Boys public image went from Good Vibrations to Smiley Smile. That is quite the departure, remember they wouldn't have heard Smile!

[EgoHanger1966]

The Beach Boys public image went from Good Vibrations to Smiley Smile. That is quite the departure, remember they wouldn't have heard Smile!

Depends where you lived and if you read the trades - SMiLE was written about heavily in the (especially, but not exclusive to) UK press. Of course, those were only verbal descriptions, but a lot of people got the gist of what Brian was working on. Also, the Inside Pop special with the Surf's Up clip - did that air before Smiley Smile's release?

I'd say the failure of Smiley Smile was based more on the time lapse than the actual music. Release dates were so important back then.

[PaulTMA]

The Beach Boys should change their name to Geocities and release their next album on cassette or I'm dumping them

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Just showed a girl my age Pet Sounds, she listened and really liked it and is planning on listening to the whole thing tonight.
And she only heard the first 3 songs!

[Aegir]

there are now three active threads about the Beach Boys and their appeal to hipsters. just thought I'd point that out.

[runnersdialzero]

there are now three active threads about the Beach Boys and their appeal to hipsters. just thought I'd point that out.

That's a hint that you need to make more, Aegir.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I think there are different kinds of 'hip' these days. For the most part, I wouldn't expect people into hip hop to appreciate the Beach Boys. However, people into Fleet Foxes, Edward Sharpe, M Ward, REM, Weezer, etc, ...many would be floored if they heard say, Let the Wind Blow. I have many friends as such, and they were surprised and impressed by it. Obviously, Pet Sounds is highly respected anyway. But to me, that is only the beginning. They reinvented themselves at least a couple more times.

If I tell people the BB are my favorite band, they wouldn't understand. But if I tell them that I think the BBs are one of the most creative and diverse bands, they may be puzzled, but at least it makes them curious.

[Alex]

Another vote here for HDN - my favorite Beatles album!

I don't think any album (Beatles or otherwise) can match the one-two-three punch of It Won't Be Long/All I've Gotta Do/All My Loving on With The Beatles. Early Fabs is where it's at!

Nah...Please Please Me is where its at!

[Ron]

I just don't understand why anybody in their right mind would hear "I Get Around" and not appreciate the Beach Boys as one of the greatest bands of all time.  I never could understand the need to hold their more moody music up as something to show their greatness.  Their greatness was on their first album.  A lof of their greatness was gone by the time they got to Pet Sounds.  If my friends acted like "California Girls" wasn't one of the best songs ever recorded, I'd look at them like they had two heads.  What kind of losers are you guys hanging out with?

[obscurereference]

I just don't understand why anybody in their right mind would hear "I Get Around" and not appreciate the Beach Boys as one of the greatest bands of all time.  I never could understand the need to hold their more moody music up as something to show their greatness.  Their greatness was on their first album.  A lof of their greatness was gone by the time they got to Pet Sounds.  If my friends acted like "California Girls" wasn't one of the best songs ever recorded, I'd look at them like they had two heads.  What kind of losers are you guys hanging out with?

Well, waaaay back before I got into the Beach Boys I'd have thought of 'I Get Around' as the cheesy old pop song about cars and gangs with men singing silly high pitched girly harmonies, as featured in the 80s movie 'Look Who's Talking'.

Don't judge me! I guess I'm saying that people are so used to the early hits that a new fan would need to stop and consciously listen to them with fresh ears to appreciate just how good they are.

[Ron]

I suppose that could be true.  I've always thought that 'cheezy' really meant "This is so exactly right that it's part of my life and I don't want to admit it".  The Beach Boys are cheezy like Elvis cheezy and the American flag is cheezy to Americans, and saying "I love you" is cheezy.  I decided several years ago I was going to embrace the cheese. 

EMBRACE THE CHEESE, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

Also since we're going all out, I like watching Glee and Gay people ought to be able to be married. 


There.  I said it.  How will I ever show my face around the car shop again?

[Bill Ed]

Blondie and Ricky were a non factor with the group's popularity. They were there, sang a few songs and were gone.

I applaud you for your courage in writing this. You put it a bit bluntly, but I agree completely.

[Dunderhead]

I think there are different kinds of 'hip' these days. For the most part, I wouldn't expect people into hip hop to appreciate the Beach Boys. However, people into Fleet Foxes, Edward Sharpe, M Ward, REM, Weezer, etc, ...many would be floored if they heard say, Let the Wind Blow. I have many friends as such, and they were surprised and impressed by it. Obviously, Pet Sounds is highly respected anyway. But to me, that is only the beginning. They reinvented themselves at least a couple more times.

If I tell people the BB are my favorite band, they wouldn't understand. But if I tell them that I think the BBs are one of the most creative and diverse bands, they may be puzzled, but at least it makes them curious.

Honestly, I think The Beach Boys are cooler than ever before. I think people who are really invested in music, and not just fashionably apathetic readers of Pitchfork, know about The Beach Boys. I think several of the most respected and well reviewed bands today are pretty vocal admirers of The Beach Boys. I think anyone really into the music scene today is aware of this, and at least an admiration for Pet Sounds has probably rubbed off on them. If someone doesn't know about the band, I don't see that as evidence of them not being hip, but as a sign that the person I'm speaking to doesn't listen to a lot of music besides what's on the radio.

[Dunderhead]

And if you point it out, it really does seem silly to discount The Beach Boys. I think to a lot of people they're a sort of novelty or one-hit-wonder type band. But if you put it in perspective for them, it's pretty easy to get them to question their own understanding.
Just ask them to list all The Beach Boys songs they can think of. They'd probably list off the usual suspects: Fun, Fun, Fun, I Get Around, Help Me Rhonda, Barbara Ann, California Girls, Good Vibrations, Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows, Sloop John B, In My Room, Don't Worry Baby. Even if that was the band's whole career (which it's not), it's still one hell of a run. To have so many songs that are completely ubiquitous can't be easily dismissed as a perversion of good taste.

[JanBerryFarm]

SCREW HIPSTERS 

[Mike's Beard]

Still confused. So are hipsters those people that listen to what everyone is listening to (and if so how would you be able to spot one?) or the kind of people that listen to bands that no one else has heard of?

[runnersdialzero]

Still confused. So are hipsters those people that listen to what everyone is listening to (and if so how would you be able to spot one?) or the kind of people that listen to bands that no one else has heard of?

Both at the same time.

[I. Spaceman]

Still confused. So are hipsters those people that listen to what everyone is listening to (and if so how would you be able to spot one?) or the kind of people that listen to bands that no one else has heard of?

They are people who listen to obscure/cool music mainly because they want to look cool, and less because they actually like it. Tho the term has become an unfairly pejorative one lobbed by people with bad taste towards people who are actually hip.

[Aegir]

Hipsters are white people who listened to jazz before return to forever made jazz white.