A heatwave wouldn’t be a heatwave without a brand new Beach Boys collection, and there’s certainly no signs of a drought on that front. And yet it would take a real cynic to be anything less than chuffed about it coming as this one does with no shortage of curios, new stereo mixes and a beautiful selection of songs from the criminally overlooked ‘Surf’s Up’ album including Don’t Go Near The Water, ‘Til I Die, Feel Flows (appearing on Jarvis Cocker’s The Trip album), Disney Girls (1957), ‘Cool Cool Water (from the original Smile sessions) in addition to no mean stockpile of favourites like ‘All Summer Song’, ‘Catch A Wave’, ‘You’re So Good To Me’, ‘Then I Kissed Her’ and ‘The Warmth Of The Sun’.
No real need to tell you the story: they were inspired originally by The Four Freshman, they sang in umpteen-part vocal harmonies, Dennis Wilson was the only surfer, Brian used to compose in a sandpit, he had anxiety attacks that forced him to stop touring, went bonkers for awhile, ate loads of shit and came back with a vengeance a few years ago with the previously impossible ‘Smile’ album and tour. Oh, and Charlie Manson was the Walrus. What you have here is a sideways look at the usual fanfare of hits and a chance to consider an alternative potted history necessarily more ambient and reflective.
In scraping the bottom of the barrel, it appears they’ve discovered some delightfully vintage liquor.