Brian Wilson/Beach Boys soundalikes...

[Andrew G. Doe]

instrumentally, has anyone mentioned the High Llamas "Hawaii"? Got it on the stereo in the bathroom. Excellent music to shave by.

I love the High Llamas' sound, but they seem to lack the skills to write any truely memorable songs.

I recall with great fondness a gig in London, 1999, when they opened for Van Dyke Parks. About halfway through their set, a friend turned to me and said "nice riffs, now how about a few tunes ?"

[Roger Ryan]

I've found other High Llamas albums to be better focused with stronger material, but "Hawaii" is the one everyone talks about because it's the most "Beach Boys-like" stylistically (and one of the few albums I traded in for something else because of my disappointment in it).

[L Ransford]

Over the years some songs that have struck me with a Wilson vibe have been:

"Shannon" by Henry Gross.

"The Longest Drink" by Jules Shear

"Brian Wilson Said" by Tears For Fears.

Most of the first album by Fugu.

"Cruisin' Music" by The Raspberries.

The intro to the Yes hit "Rythym of Love" fooled me.

and most of all "The Love Songs of B.Douglas Wilson" by Splitsville is the most striking tribute I have ever heard.

[SG7]

British rock critics have spent the last two or three years dropping the name Brian Wilson into every third rate indie-band's review. Consequently, old suckers like me (who remember when critics knew s**t) have bought the likes of the Thrills, Hal, Cosmic Rough Riders, etc. Almost all this stuff is college-kid dross and sounds nothing like the BBs.

Okay I wasn't orginally going to respond this but I decide I am going to now. First of all I am sorry you a purist in a bad way. I am sorry someone has to consider you consider the best band on earth to a bunch of  "third rate bands". What do you know what? What if somebody is reading that and goes 'hey who are the beach boys'? Sure you the hardcore fan has to go and on why they have to compare with unkowns but thats how the word gets out. Do you know the youth get into older bands? Its not a lot of times the parents (I was grateful this music was all over my house) but its reviews of other people. Don't you think there is a curiousity factor that goes with that? Everyone compares everyone to The Beatles sometime or another and no gives everything. But when it comes to this everyone has to be a twist about it? Most of the bands that are compared to them are actually NOT BAD. Yes I do love The Thrills, they are 500000 more poppy then a lot of the    "popular" stuff out there. Same way with The Shins, Chin Up Chin Up, Augustana, and some of the other bands out there. The truth is thats a honor to be in that catagory. Sure they are not rewriting Pet Sounds or Smile (yes there is albums better then these two out there) but its better then it use to be. Musicians are now trying to get in touch with there roots (ie The Killers/Springsteen, Wolfmother/Led Zepplin etc...) You see folks, these are the kind of people that say the music will die with there generation. Its not going to die but its going to be reinterpreted by different groups of people. The people that are influnced by Wilson are not the same people that were say 40 years ago. His influnce is changing with the time. You can call it third rate all you want, but the pop culture of now are finally realizing Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys did do something right in culture . They are not a group spoken by a few musically smart people or laughed at by the masses. Okay end of my lecture and my $0.02 

PS: There are critics who do know $%^&*! out there.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Alan Boyd's "Channel Surfing" - It's like a Brian Wilson/Beach Boys pastiche.

Not original but a great homage to the masters

[shelter]

I still think Everybody Hurts by REM sounds a lot like Lonely Sea.

Sure it's a very common riff, but still...

[voxnut]

I checked out the tunes on the Explorers Club myspace page, and while they do have an uncanny ability to nail the BB's vibe, it's a little too slavish for my tastes. The EC are to the Beach Boys, what the Rutles are to the Beatles, only without the humor. I mean this from the fact that you hear their songs and know exactly what BBs song they are ripping off/rewriting. Hearing the "cabinessence" banjo in their song "I Lost My Head" made me roll my eyes more than think "cool!"

Then again, just like with the Beatle zombies I don't get the religious zeal they dissect minutia with- as somehow if they know what the thread count in Paul McCartney's sheets were in '64 they'll somehow become Paul McCartney. I much prefer someone being inspired by someone else's work and then putting their own stamp on it (much in the same manner Brian Wilson did with Phil Spector's influence) rather than training themselves to be a magpie. 

But you know, different streaks for different freaks...

Dean

[AWoPS]

Voxnut - I agree with what you've said, though my reaction to the more slavish copies is different than yours - if I like the song I am able to overlook that fact that it is a ripoff/slavish imitation.

The initial purpose of my AWoPS (A Wall of Pet Sounds) mix series was a reaction to some friends/co-workers who seemed to love a lot of bands influenced by The Beach Boys, yet they hated The Beach Boys themselves.  As I set out to prove a point I wound up discovering a lot of songs/bands I hadn't previously heard.   Even before the first mix was complete it had turned into something I was making for my own enjoyment (and I'd quit the crummy job which left me with no one to make the mixes for anyway).

So that's the story.  I'd still like to see what songs some of the other board members have discovered that sound like/are influenced by BW.  Post away...

[the captain]

A few moments of Olivia Tremor Control's second/final album, Black Foliage, are pretty obvious nods to the Smile and Smiley Smile eras. There are similar moments in both of their primary splinter bands, Circulatory System and The Sunshine Fix.

(Rather than argue the merits of the idea of this thread, I thought I'd just shut up and contribute.)

[rfa77]

AWoPs, wow, I tried posting a similiar subject on another BB site, and there was zilch interest, except for one person - none, nada.  You think like me.  I used to think I was a BB purist, then came to the conclusion I love the sound, so I started searching high and low for any music that gave a nod to the BB and could care less if critics, both by calling and self-appointed, called them ripoffs.  If it pleased my ears, so be it, call it what you may.  The majority of people out there - and I have alot of friends and throw parties all the time - couldn't tell you the BB were made up of 3 brothers and a cousin, much less which ear Brian was deaf in.  The "experts" are in the minority so it doesn't bother me what they say.  I am a big country rock fan - The Eagles, Poco, Pure Prairie League - and I have discovered several lesser known bands that do what these guys do - and they do it well.  By the same token, I love Jimmy Buffett, and have found several songs by different artists that I have made compilations of that put me in the same spirit -  some gems by Jackson Browne, Kenny Chesney, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, fall into that "tropical" category.

Now to the meat.  Only one person here mentioned Alan Boyd, but since nobody has mentioned the following, I'll assume you may not be familiar with them.  I've included websites where these can be purchased.  Granted, not all the music on these CD's may emulate the BB sound, but a few do, and they are finds.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

One other note.  I tend to agree with the poster who has been disappointed by the mention of some other bands that were likened to the BB -The Thrills, for example.  My opinion on the the bands music in and of itself doesn't matter, but I don't think they're very BB-ish.  I have read many reviews and eagerly visisted websites to hear soundbites of recommended music, only to be disappointed.

Alan Boyd - Channel Surfing: http://www.boydproductiongroup.com/ (also amazon.com)
It's Only Roy -  http://www.itsonlyroy.com/, among others Gentle Soul is excellent
Vinyl Kings - Time Machine, www.cdbaby.com, 4 or 5 songs, including Sycamore Bay, which is the best one
The Malibooz (Walter Egan) - CDs: Beach Access and Living Water, www.malibooz.com (also cdbaby.com)
Northern Light - Both CD's, http://www.glacierdisc.com/; if you can get past a couple of the songs that are too "Up With People-ish", they have some very good songs. 
Henry Gross - Best Of , amazon.com; I think the songs What A Sound and Springtime Mama are better than Shannon
The Raspberries, besides Cruisin' Music, Drivin' Around and Eric Carmen's She Did It and That's Rock And Roll

I have some onesies, twosies things, too, so send me an e-mail and I can get you the info.

[AWoPS]

Thank you for the post!  Check your email.

And or thoes looking for something BB-esque, check out the song "Soft Carousel" by Maple Mars - has a psychedelic "Feel Flows" feel to it.

[Daniel S.]

And as for finding BBs sound-alikes, there are none. There are great musicians who were influenced by them, of course. And there are musicians of varying quality who try to do the most blatant rip-offs possible. But finding them for the latter reason is a waste of time, in my book. A brilliant imitator of the Beach Boys is just a covers band or a jukebox. Big fodaing deal. I'd take the former any day for the same reason that I don't listen to Beach Boys records in order to hear the Four Freshmen or Chuck Berry.

Very well put. I've been wasting time and money...and money on cds  by bands I were told were Beach Boys influenced. You've just cured me of the dissapointment I felt.

[AWoPS]

Why did you spend money on product you haven't first listened to?  Why did you do it multiple times?

Would be interested in learning what you were told was influenced by the BB and was not.

[Daniel S.]

The Magic Numbers, The Heavy Blinkers, The Raspberries (they also claim to have a Phil Spector production  ), The Vines (all the critics said the third album was Beach Boys/Beatles influenced), Big Star (everyone told me that Alex Chilton claims to be heavily influenced by the Byrds and the Who, two of my favorite bands, but I ain't hearing it), The High Llamas. That's all I can think of right now.

[rfa77]

None of those bands particularly sound like the BB.  The whole purpose of the BB soundalike exercise is to find enough songs to make a compilation.  Rarely do you find a CD with music that is entirely BB, save maybe Alan Boyd's.  Thats why I find the songs off those albums and record them to my compilation.  The Raspberries were not a BB type band.  Rather, Eric Carmen was a BB fan and had been influenced by them.  The best you can say about the Raspberries is that they did 3 songs that emulated the "spirit" of the BB sound - and those were Cruisin' Music, Drivin' Around, and Overnight Sensation, more so the first two than the last.

[Aegir]

www.myspace.com/sloppyhorse

That's my band. Our music is heavily influenced by the Beach Boys, but it sounds absolutely nothing like them.

[AWoPS]

The Magic Numbers, The Heavy Blinkers, The Raspberries (they also claim to have a Phil Spector production  ), The Vines (all the critics said the third album was Beach Boys/Beatles influenced), Big Star (everyone told me that Alex Chilton claims to be heavily influenced by the Byrds and the Who, two of my favorite bands, but I ain't hearing it), The High Llamas. That's all I can think of right now.

Well, yes, you did get screwed on these.  I don't hear it in The Magic Numbers at all - average "power pop" band in my humble opinion (and even the term "power pop" is way over used these days).  The Heavy Blinkers have a couple of tunes that have a Beach Boys feel to them but even those songs are more Bee Gees-esque.  The Raspberries have a few tunes that more "inspired by" than "sound like."  I have read the comment on The Vines record and I agree, I don't see it at all, ditto Big Star (though the opening riff of "Turn My Back On the Sun" steals the opening riff of "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

The High Llamas are a different story alltogether.  A lot of O'Hagan's music reminds me of SMiLE-era Brian Wilson stripped of all emotion.

I guess the difference between your experience and mine is that I listened to clips from these records prior to handing over my cash and saved myself a lot of money.  If you want, send me your mailing address and I'll send you a disc of songs that, in my opinion, sound like the BB...would be interested in hearing what you think.

[Daniel S.]

Could you upload those songs and post them on yousendit.com, or a site like that, and post the link on this thread? Or send me a private message witht the link? 

[Daniel S.]

Another group I've found dissapointing is The Polyphonic Spree.

[AWoPS]

Another group I've found dissapointing is The Polyphonic Spree.

Here, here!

[the captain]

I compare the Polyphonic Spree to the High Llamas in this way: they're both very one-dimensional. Both have found a way to almost perfectly capture a certain feeling or vibe, but they never really expand beyond it. There are no great songs, just the vibes or feelings...over and over and over and over and...

[shelter]

The Polyphonic Spree is dissapointing on CD, but they're the best live act I've ever seen. And "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)" is one of my favorite songs of the last few years.

[AWoPS]

The Polyphonic Spree is dissapointing on CD, but they're the best live act I've ever seen. And "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)" is one of my favorite songs of the last few years.

The Poly Spree is disappointing in as much as they are often touted as "sounding like the Beach Boys" - they don't.  As a band, not too bad...but I also agree that they seem to capture the same vibe/feel over and over again - Section 12 does the best job of capturing this feeling.

I guess I am agreeing with all of you.

[roll plymouth rock]

The truth is thats a honor to be in that catagory. Sure they are not rewriting Pet Sounds or Smile (yes there is albums better then these two out there) but its better then it use to be. Musicians are now trying to get in touch with there roots (ie The Killers/Springsteen, Wolfmother/Led Zepplin etc...) You see folks, these are the kind of people that say the music will die with there generation. Its not going to die but its going to be reinterpreted by different groups of people. The people that are influnced by Wilson are not the same people that were say 40 years ago. His influnce is changing with the time. You can call it third rate all you want, but the pop culture of now are finally realizing Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys did do something right in culture . They are not a group spoken by a few musically smart people or laughed at by the masses. Okay end of my lecture and my $0.02 

PS: There are critics who do know $%^&*! out there.

comments:
1. what are you talking about?
2. nice grammar.
3. if "they are not rewriting Pet Sounds or Smile (yes there is albums better then these two out there) but its better then it use to be", what albums are better than these two out there? i'd like to know, because i haven't heard them. thanks.

[AWoPS]

\And as for finding BBs sound-alikes, there are none.

Yep, it would be totally jackass to say that "Pale and Precious" sounds like The Beach Boys.

Don't know why I felt the need to go back to this, but I did.