BeachBoys.com: The Complete Guide

REVIEW: I actually had pretty high hopes for this album, since first, the Disney brand usually ensures that some money was spent on the product, and second, one of the producers of the album is Mark Linett, who is a huge fan of early Brian Wilson producing techniques, and has even worked with Brian on some unreleased music. And both of those reasons make this album worth checking out, as the album boasts impressive sound, and the cover band tackling the songs (Fred Mollen and the Blue Sea Band) are first rate. That, plus the overall design of the CD is very cool, with the cover art and inserts all boasting first rate design. Also of interest to Beach Boys fans are the presence of Brian Wilson band members Darien Sahanaja and Jeff Foskett contributing to the rich backing vocals. But there are a couple of minuses which might dampen the enthusiasm of the average Beach Boy fan, but then again, maybe not. First, the album is stitched together by the voice-overs of popular Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy, with the three all playacting a trip to the beach. Their repeated intrusions at the openings, and endings of nearly every song, as well as their cutesy banter between every track is only fun once or twice (if I hear another "Gawrsh!" I think I'll scream.) The second minus for me is the presence of a children's chorus that intrudes upon most of the choruses, and they're completely unnecessary, since Fred Mollen and Co. are very much up to the challenge of making an incredible-sounding Beach Boys album all by themselves. If you're the parents of small children, you may very well find these two factors to be a plus in their listening enjoyment, but for anyone else, it's all too cutesy for repeated listening. Of the 14 songs listed, only ten are Beach Boys covers, with "Here Comes Summertime" being a fine, hook-filled newly-composed original; "California Sun" being a cover of the Rivieras 1961 hit single (which has been used as a jingle for Disneyland), and "California Beach Boys Day" a bouncy, but obvious Beach Boys pastiche. The album closes out with a Four Freshman-styled take on "When You Wish Upon A Star", which may seem disingenuous for a Beach Boys album, until you remember that Brian cited this song as the direct inspiration for "Surfer Girl!" All in all, I recommend this album for Beach Boys fans due to the professionalism and fun, but fair warning for all those with low tolerance for cuteness - you may find yourself gnashing your teeth at some moments here.

REVIEW: You know, if I knew when I was younger that it took so little imagination and talent to create a music CD, I would've churned out a hundred albums by now. One listen to Baby Rock Records churned-out product has me thoroughly convinced that I am equally the artist of anyone at this label. Shoveling out cheaply conceived, produced, and performed product like this by the truckload, young, newborn-awed parents might just be gullible enough to fork over their hard-earned dollars for programmatic slush like this. Much like Vitamin Records, who puts out the somewhat imaginative string quartet albums above, Baby Rock Records is solely devoted to strip-mining classic rock anthems and pasteurizing them into baby-friendly pablum. This album, with it's "awwww, how cute" scribbled album cover which could've been drawn by any competent grade-schooler, takes a handful of Beach Boys ballads and runs them through a synthesizer who's main setting seems to be "Music Box". Each song is the same, with soft, bell-like chimes, synthesized strings, and a gentle, drowsy mood that's perfect for putting a squalling child to sleep. And, trust me on this, it does its soporific job very, very well indeed. I felt myself nodding off several times during the listening process, hoping against hope for some change in mood or format, but nope - every single song here seems to be played on the exact same instrument, with the exact same settings, for every track. I give it one star for achieving its main objective, being perfect sleepy-time music, but having to leave off all others for being artistically sterile. If Art Garfunkel had married Mister Rogers and had spawned a musical love child legacy, this album would be it. If this kind of soft-serve musical mush suits your particular palette, you might want to check out the many other albums which Baby Rock Records have put out.

REVIEW: Adam Marsland has been kindly keeping us apprised of the progress of this album by postings on our message board, and by streaming sound clips on his myspace website. For fans of the Beach Boys, especially hard-core fans, this album is a real gem. Totally live, without any overdubs or studio sweetening, this concert, which was recorded at Brennan's in Marina Del Rey, California, is a crafty homage to the younger Wilson brothers, Carl and Dennis. Since Carl and Dennis have long been overshadowed by their genius older brother Brian, it's daring of Adam to use this entire concert to bring Carl and Dennis's music to the forefront, and not surprisingly, the music holds up very well, and in fact seems enhanced by being performed live, in front of a small, but appreciative audience. The sound on the CD is very close and intimate, with the performances eerily in-tune with the original songs. I can imagine the songs sounding exactly like this if played by the Beach Boys in stripped-down, club arrangements. Vocally, the performances are spot-on, with excellent harmonies weaving in and around the songs, and Adam at times sounding like Dennis Wilson reincarnated. In fact, it feels like the spirits of Dennis and Carl are present at the concert, with the vibe of everything very "Wilson-esque". I wish that the sound was a little less thin, but as it is, the album feels not-unlike Carl and the Passions: So Tough, with an under produced sheen which lends itself to the recreations of "Trader" and the rough honky-tonk of "What's Wrong" but leaves denser productions like "Where I Belong" and "Celebrate The News" feeling under-nourished. But don't let those small quibbles concern you - this is a stellar performance, reverent and extraordinarily accomplished, and a long-overdue recognition of Carl and Dennis Wilson's under appreciated talents. I especially enjoyed Evie Sands' take on Dennis's "Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again" with it's thick harmonies and superb lead vocal, as well as Adam's sensitive lead vocal on "Moonshine." On a further note, the original quartet of songs which start the album are excellent, with each of the singers (Evie, Alan, and Adam) given the chance to shine on their own compositions. This is an eye-opening live set, and highly recommended to Beach Boys fans who've yet to fully appreciate the talents of the 'other' Wilson brothers.

REVIEW: Oh, man! I never know what to expect from these "tribute" albums, which, in a way, is why I both dread and look forward to them. So many have disappointed, and so very few have truly surprised me - but one listen to the wacked-out sounds found on Do It Again has once again turned me into a true believer. Easily one of the screwiest compilations this side of the hemisphere, some of the tracks are Uber-horrific: (Micah P. Hinson's talent-free rendition of "I'm Waiting For The Day" Vic Chestnut's gargling bullfrog take on "You Still Believe In Me") while other tracks are melodic and reverent, like Raygun's brass-heavy "Let's Go Away For Awhile" and the Oldham Brothers super-fragile take on "Wouldn't It Be Nice". I have the same affection for this disc which I share with really bad science fiction movies - it makes me laugh at the sheer ineptness of it all. There's the drunken cowboy lurch of Dayna Kurtz's "Sloop John B" or the loopy schizophrenic back-and-forth banter of Daniel Johnston's "God Only Knows" which alternates with Mazarin's pop-pure take on "I Know There's An Answer" (a great, great cover of this song). Then there's the peppy rush of "Here Today" by Jody Wildgoose or Patrick Wolf's earnest cover of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" (which sounds like it could've been a lost track from the Surfsiders' Songbook). Architecture in Helsinki contributes a slightly updated sound-scape for an otherwise carbon copy of the title track, and The Wedding Present strains wildly to hold on to the melody on "Caroline No" which veers into goth rock (no, I'm not kidding) and which brings this disturbingly alluring platter to an end. Whereas some tribute albums have turned me off by their mismatched talent-to-song ratios, Do It Again tips the scale on good taste just enough for me to smile throughout. I really enjoyed being weirded out by this strange aural brew, and I'm going to give it a hearty recommendation to those with an appetite for the off-kilter. (You know who you are!)

REVIEW: This CD, which was released by Britain's MOJO music magazine in Great Britain in January of 2007, features a slew of both cover versions of Beach Boys songs, and songs "inspired" by the music of Brian Wilson, most of which has been released on other albums, but gathered here by producers Dave Henderson and Gillian Short. The album begins with The Who's frenetic take on "Barbara Ann" and considering Keith Moon's fervent admiration for The Beach Boys, is a fitting way to leap off. Next comes the Beach Boys initial stab at "I Know There's An Answer": the superior "Hang On To Your Ego" - the album cover trumpets this track as being "rare" but it's appeared on so many Pet Sounds CDs that the claim is stretching the truth. Next comes Curt Boettcher's dreamy "It's A Sad World" taken from his Chicken Little Was Right album, and it's a gorgeous, multi-tracked harmonic mini-masterpiece, much in the mould of his Saggitarius project. The High Llamas get a nod on "Leaf and Lime" a Bacharach-style lounge ballad which features their trademark effortless melody and detached performance. The Super-Imposers contribute a similarly languid "Would It Be Possible" from their debut album, and after three similar-sounding tracks, I'm beginning to think that MOJO's editors think Brian is strictly a composer of navel-gazing slush. This feeling is reinforced by yet another ballad - "The Lonely Sea" which is given a breathy, droning reading by Ali Smith. Dean Torrence is sampled on "Like A Summer Rain" which feels old-fashioned and clunky after the long melodic lines which have preceded it. The band Epicycle give a nice, easy-going cover version of "Wake The World" which is taken from their Best Of album, and The Doleful Lions contribute the sole "exclusive" track, a sympathetically sloppy cover of "H.E.L.P. Is On The Way" with the lead vocalist sounding not unlike Bruce Johnston. Apples In Stereo are next with the slow psychedelia of "Submarine Dream" with lots of appregios and a thick bass line carrying the song along. The Mockers use power-guitar chords to start off an interesting cover of "God Only Knows" which successfully reinterprets the song, and makes it fresh. Elf Power contributes a fuzzy trance rocker, "All The World Is Waiting" which seems to owe less to Brian Wilson and more to other emo bands, but it still fits in nicely. Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus features a female soloist on "I Can Hear Music" who sounds like Grace Slick, and the song is faithful to its Spector roots in a thick production. The Langley School Project is next with their grade-school chorus intoning "In My Room" and The Barracudas close things out with the spoken-word corn of "His Last Summer" giving a nod to the drama-rock of The Shangri-Las, and is a strange way to end the album, being perhaps the furthest from the style of Brian Wilson of any of the songs. All in all this is an interesting collection, and can be found at various second-hand stores.

REVIEW: The Sunny Boys, a successful and popular Italian Beach Boys Tribute band have released their first CD, a twenty-track live recording which is excerpted from their massive, FIFTY-FOUR song concert set list, is an excellent document of their enthusiastic, polished performance. The set list is heavily weighted towards the early, Capitol-era Beach Boys, undoubtedly the band's most successful, and popular era, and the band rips through the twenty tracks with such infectious enthusiasm and style that it's a real pleasure to listen to. It's not hard to imagine this sounding not too far from how the Beach Boys themselves sounded in a live setting back in the 1960s. And despite their Italian heritage, the songs are all performed in English, with tight harmonies, propulsive tempos and strong (if occasionally strongly nasal) lead singing. Knowing how complex and intricate Brian Wilson's harmonies are, it's an impressive feat to recreate these harmonies so faithfully. My favorite track is probably the finale, with "Good Vibrations" given a marvelously thick, shimmering psychedelic performance that subtly changes the original arrangement to excellent effect, more closely matching some of the outtake performances heard on bootlegs; but the entire concert is sharp and focused, and the band is obviously having a great time performing live. The recording is well done, bright and clear with minimal audience noise, and the vocals nicely balanced and separated. My only wish would be that the set list was a bit more filled out with some of the other tracks from their concert: I would've loved to hear their renditions of "Darlin'," "All Summer Long," and "You're So Good To Me" which didn't make the cut, but as a hidden bonus track the band tacks on a ripping, reverb-drenched version of "Miserlou" which fades out the disc. Here's hoping that this album is a big seller, so that a sequel can let us hear the songs that got away. This CD is available through their similarly impressive web site, and also through CDBaby, and this CD features a comprehensive look at this exciting, impressive new band. Give these guys a listen, and perhaps you'll want to hoof it over to Italy to catch them live.