Carl Wilson: YOUNGBLOOD

Summary

Jokermen Podcast Episode Summary: "Carl Wilson: YOUNGBLOOD" Release Date: August 5, 2025

---

Introduction: The Rupee Report Segment

At the onset of the episode, hosts Alex and Ben engage in a lighthearted and humorous discussion about Zevia Root Beer. This segment, titled "Rupee Report," serves as a playful diversion before delving into the main topic.

• [00:02] Alex jokingly refers to Zevia as "a mug," setting a casual and comedic tone.
• [02:58] Ben shares his candid opinion: "Zevia Zero sugar Soda, probably not gonna be my preferred flavor of beverage."

The hosts debate the merits of Zevia's Creamy Root Beer versus Ginger Root Beer, highlighting their differing preferences and aversions to the product's taste and packaging.

---

Main Topic: Carl Wilson's "Youngblood" Album

Transitioning from their initial banter, Alex and Ben shift focus to Carl Wilson's solo album, "Youngblood." Their conversation encompasses the album's production quality, musical composition, lyrical content, and overall reception.

Production and Collaboration

A significant aspect of the discussion revolves around the album's production quality, attributed largely to Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's involvement.

• [13:42] Ben emphasizes Baxter's contribution: "Produced by one Jeff Skunk Baxter. He of Steely Dan and Doody Brothers and later Missile Defense Systems fame."
• [19:07] Alex adds humorously, "He's turning Carl Wilson from, you know, a lukewarm potato into a hot, hotter potato."

Jeff Baxter's background in both music and defense consultancy brings a unique blend of expertise to the album, enhancing its overall sound and complexity.

Album Artwork and Presentation

The hosts critique the album's cover art, noting its simplistic yet effective design.

• [23:22] Alex observes: "It's just like the last one, except it's in color and it's a close up."
• [24:15] Alex further comments on the visual aesthetics: "It's he’s wearing a nice looking, you know... just his face peeking from the darkness."

They appreciate the mature and classy look Carl Wilson adopts, contrasting it with previous solo efforts by other Beach Boys members.

Song Analysis

Alex and Ben provide an in-depth review of several tracks from "Youngblood," highlighting standout moments and offering critiques.

1. "What More Can I Say"

   • [25:10] Alex praises its energy: "What more can I say about this? It's... feels a little energetic."
   • [25:48] Ben adds: "The guitar on this man is like. It's pretty ripping."

2. "Giving You Up"

   • [27:31] Ben reflects on the improvement from Carl's previous work: "He's doing something that's passable."
   • [28:00] Alex notes the emotional depth: "I do like the guitar on this."

3. "She's Mine"

   • [29:00] Ben humorously comments on the lyrics: "The bitch is mine."
   • [30:00] Alex expresses surprise: "Carl, don't say that."

4. "Rocking All Over the World"

   • [40:07] Ben expresses his enjoyment: "Rocking all over the world... What you do to me."
   • [41:00] Alex describes the musical style: "It's got some honky tonk piano type stuff."

5. "What You Do to Me"

   • [42:16] Alex critiques its simplicity: "It's fine. But I want to hear him do something that has, like, a little something like..."
   • [43:35] Ben connects it to wider musical trends: "Any sort of Nintendo esque type song I'm not gonna shake a stick at."

6. "Time"

   • [57:25] Ben hails it as the album's standout: "Pure banger. Absolute heat here at the end of this record."
   • [58:00] Alex agrees on its impact: "Don't always want you on my case, you bitch."

Throughout the song analyses, the hosts interweave their personal opinions with technical observations, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of each track's strengths and weaknesses.

Notable Quotes

• [13:07] Alex: "It was like the blueprints, like, it was like when you see a house under construction... But this. This feels like, you know, it's a finished structure."
• [16:39] Ben: "We do not endorse the United States Department of Defense here on this program... But at the same time, I can't help but be a little bit kind of charmed..."
• [44:35] Ben: "Man, I'm in an important step. This guy's cool. I'm into him."
• [53:20] Ben: "Some cool, Some cool ripping from Skunk on the guitar. So like, I'll enjoy that."

These quotes encapsulate the hosts' blend of humor, critique, and genuine appreciation for Carl Wilson's efforts.

Final Assessment and Rating

After a thorough examination of "Youngblood," Ben and Alex converge on their overall impressions and rating.

• Ben: "I'm gonna give him a little extra credit on this one just for kind of showing up and doing something that's passable."
• Alex: "Two out of three stars, Carl points."
• Ben: "Two out of three, Carl points."

They acknowledge the album's improvement over Carl's previous solo work, recognizing its musical merits despite lingering reservations about lyrical depth and thematic consistency.

---

Additional Discussions and Humor

Beyond the primary focus on Carl Wilson's album, Alex and Ben engage in various tangents, including:

• [22:18] Ben: Discussing the Nelk Boys and their controversial podcast guests.
• [37:20] Alex & Ben: Sharing recommendations for local chicken restaurants, adding a relatable and casual element to the conversation.
• [44:34] Ben: Delving into the biography of John Hall, touching upon his multifaceted career as a musician and politician.

These interludes showcase the hosts' chemistry and ability to weave humor and diverse topics seamlessly into their discourse.

---

Conclusion and Upcoming Content

Wrapping up the episode, Alex and Ben hint at future discussions, including:

• [63:31] Alex: Teasing the exploration of Brian Wilson's solo career.
• [63:53] Ben: Promising more in-depth analysis and continuation of engaging topics.

Listeners are left anticipating forthcoming episodes that promise to delve deeper into the intricate worlds of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, maintaining the show's hallmark of insightful and entertaining commentary.

---

Overall Rating for "Youngblood": ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 3 stars)

Carl Wilson's "Youngblood" represents a commendable effort in his solo career, marked by improved production quality and a handful of standout tracks. While it doesn't entirely overcome the shortcomings of his previous work, it offers a more polished and engaging listening experience, earning a solid two-star rating from the Jokermen Podcast hosts.

Transcript

[Alex]

This could be considered a track. Not really, though.

[Ben]

We don't want to do that.

[Alex]

This is a little intro, you know.

[Ben]

All right, here we go.

[Alex]

Countdown time.

[Ben]

One, two, three, go. Okay, boys, do it.

[Alex]

Welcome back to Rupee Report. Here, Amug.

[Ben]

They're a mug.

[Alex]

Everybody chug a mug. This is. We've run into a little snafu here.

[Ben]

It's already a disaster.

[Alex]

There's a couple ways of looking at it. We could look at it as a disaster, or we could consider it that we are covering our bases and we can just trust each other. The issue, of course, is that Zevia makes two different root beer products.

[Ben]

Zevia.

[Alex]

And I was at the store and I saw that there was one called Creamy Root Beer and one called Ginger Root Beer.

[Ben]

That's right.

[Alex]

And I opted to get the one that seemed more like normal root beer.

[Ben]

If I had had the opportunity to buy Creamy Root Beer, that's certainly what I would have bought. But up until this point, I had no idea that such a thing even existed. So I've only got the Ginger Root.

[Alex]

Beer, so we can't really judge this.

[Ben]

I think it's gonna be okay because I have a sneaking suspicion that whether I was drinking the Creamy Root Beer or the Ginger Root Beer, that something called Zevia Zero sugar Soda, probably not gonna be my preferred flavor of beverage. It's clear. Oh, no, it's clear.

[Alex]

It is completely clear.

[Ben]

Oh, man.

[Alex]

Crystal Root Beer. Yeah.

[Ben]

Oh, yeah, Mine's clear, too. Man. Man, it's smells like normal, basically.

[Alex]

But yours maybe. Maybe doesn't.

[Ben]

The ginger root beer smells.

[Alex]

This smells like a lot like.

[Ben]

It smells chemically.

[Alex]

It smells like mug.

[Ben]

Hmm. Well, that's not a good thing.

[Alex]

Yeah, well, I mean, mug is root beer, so.

[Ben]

Well, technically, you know, I suppose that's what it says on the can. I don't know that I would consider it a true root beer, but.

[Alex]

Chug. I guess.

[Ben]

I guess. Yeah. There's not really much to talk about is there's no story, there's no real logo.

[Alex]

No. Yeah. No. Clever copy.

[Ben]

Yeah. Dot com. All right, here we go.

[Alex]

Oh, yeah. I mean, this is like your hell.

[Ben]

Oh, no.

[Alex]

Your nightmare.

[Ben]

I took a sip and it was like, all right, this isn't that bad. And then I continued to taste.

[Alex]

Just floods over your tongue.

[Ben]

It gets worse with each passing second.

[Alex]

Yeah, it becomes that. Like that facsimile of sweetness that we all kind of know.

[Ben]

Oh, it's pretty brutal.

[Alex]

What's in it? What do we have?

[Ben]

Stevia, would you say?

[Alex]

Carbonated water? Natural flavors. Stev leaf extract. It's just stevia and carbonated water, I guess a little bit.

[Ben]

I mean, I guess there's something positive about that because I do feel like a lot of diet root beers have, like, you know, nine different, you know, aspartame type chemicals shoved in there. And this is just four ingredients, Basically, whatever natural flavors consists of.

[Alex]

Yeah, there's no coloring. There's no artificial coloring, that's for sure. And there's no calories either. It's just. It's zero.

[Ben]

Ooh. Yeah. I keep drinking it, or I've taken a second sip and once again, I thought, all right, I'm kind of used to it now. It's not quite as bad. And then it just got much worse over the following three seconds.

[Alex]

Do you have ginger coming through?

[Ben]

I don't get any ginger, really. Do you get any cream?

[Alex]

Kind of. I mean, I get what they're saying because it kind of has like a cream, as in cream soda type of thing. But, I mean, I could drink this. Like, I will have to drink them because I couldn't buy an individual one. But luckily they were, like, on mega sale, so it was like, oh, you.

[Ben]

Get a whole rack.

[Alex]

It was like three bucks for like a pack of eight or something.

[Ben]

Now you got a whole rack of the Zevia Creamy. At least.

[Alex]

Like, if I was dying of thirst, I could drink this and it would work.

[Ben]

Next time you have people over to your place, you can treat them all to, you know, don't even ask them, hey, can I get you some water? Can I get you, you know, a beverage? Just lay the Zevias out.

[Alex]

In a perverse way, I kind of prefer this to the other fake root.

[Ben]

Beers that we've had because, like, the probiotic ones.

[Alex]

I just feel like this is more straightforwardly fake root beer. Like, yeah, I. I can appreciate that. They're not trying to pull one over. Like, they're just being like, no, this is. This is the fake root beer.

[Ben]

Yeah, it is what it is. And right down to the name of it, you know, Zevia, you could just tell from a mile away that's gonna be some. That's gonna be some diet bullshit.

[Alex]

I'll give it 2 out of 3 just for not being generous. Wow. Not being. Not trying to act like it's better than what it is.

[Ben]

Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll slide it at one because it is. It is what it is, and it's not trying to be anything else. That is true. You know what? No. 00 for you. This is undrinkable this is, you know, I sit here on the root beer report and I drink. I know you sometimes just drink a little bit of it and you, you pour the rest of it down the drain. I drink virtually every root beer, you know, tip to tail. When I crack one open, I am not going to drink any more of the Zebia.

[Alex]

The opposite is true for me. I'm drinking, I just finished it basically.

[Ben]

Because, wow, you're chuggalungin.

[Alex]

Because it's just water, you know, so I can feel like, okay, all right. There's nothing wrong happening here. I'm not like, I'm not really trying to have like a full sugar soda today. And I'm certainly not having that at all with Zevia Creamy Root Beer.

[Ben]

I guess I've had a couple more sips and it's maybe not quite as bad.

[Alex]

Now I'm starting to get on level. Yeah, I, I, I think it's okay. I give it to.

[Ben]

All right. One star for Xevia. Ugh.

[Alex]

Two. Two in the category of completely fraudulent root beers.

[Ben]

Enough of that. Do you hear they're putting sugar back in the Coke? Yeah, they're making America healthy again.

[Alex]

That's right. But I wonder if that's gonna extend to Barks.

[Ben]

Yeah, that's a good question. Actually, I would drink a real sugar Barks. Do they have like a Mexican coke version of a Barks?

[Alex]

Mexican Barks.

[Ben]

Mexican Barks.

[Alex]

I don't think so.

[Ben]

Let's see. Real sugar barks. They. Wow, there's a new Barks logo.

[Alex]

Wait, what do you mean?

[Ben]

What the hell is this?

[Alex]

What's the Barks logo now?

[Ben]

Oh no, this is.

[Alex]

Wait, I'm looking at disastrous. I don't see anything new.

[Ben]

I'm on the Barks official website.

[Alex]

Barks root beer. Let's see.

[Ben]

Look at what, look at what I'm seeing here on the Barks official website.

[Alex]

I'm going to the Barks website, but I'm just seeing the barrels.

[Ben]

You're not seeing Bargs barrels.

[Alex]

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

[Ben]

What the hell is that?

[Alex]

It looks very 90s.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's got that kind of like surge type graphic design to it.

[Alex]

Yeah, it looks like it says Bargs.

[Ben]

Bargs.

[Alex]

They changed the. At least I mean, we still have the barrel, but the thing with the has bite. They don't have. It's good. It doesn't say it's good.

[Ben]

It doesn't say it's good. It's got this weird yellow root beer type thing and there's something called cherry.

[Alex]

Bite bark serious spicy bite.

[Ben]

Well, I'll drink it, but I'm not.

[Alex]

I guess we got to try the spicy bite. Yeah, I don't prefer this look.

[Ben]

Spicy cherry flavored soda. You know, actually sounds kind of good. Enjoy the spicy cherry flavored bark soda. Deliciously smooth, refreshing cherry with a nice kick of spice. The perfect combo.

[Alex]

This is so whack though, because I'm looking, I'm looking at the Coca Cola website and I'm on the Barq's brand.

[Ben]

You know what I think I'm on? I'm on Coke. I'm on Coke Canada. I'm on the Canadian website.

[Alex]

Oh, so that's what that they have.

[Ben]

The weird one in Canada. All right.

[Alex]

Thank God Barq still looks normal in America.

[Ben]

What an awful country.

[Alex]

Barks. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ben]

I guess that's what I get for searching for real sugar barks. Because they would never have that down here, here in the United States. But it's got that fucked up logo.

[Alex]

Barks America.

[Ben]

Here we go. That's what a bark should look like.

[Alex]

Barks of the usa. Yeah, it says it's good. It's got the several barrels. It doesn't have that one weird barrel.

[Ben]

It's good since 1898. That's a handsome.

[Alex]

What's that one? Red cream soda. We still never tried that. I would like to dabble in cream sodas. The root beer report that. We can do that.

[Ben]

Well, there's also, there's red cream soda. There's also cream soda. French vanilla. That would. That's going to be too sweet.

[Alex]

But I like the sugar free barks. By the way, if you haven't had that.

[Ben]

I haven't really tried that.

[Alex]

They have it at like movie theaters.

[Ben]

Yeah, the barks. I. We should do like just diet barks and diet A and W at some point. You know, just sort of see what's going on there.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Ben]

God, what a. What a shonda. That Canadian barks logo is.

[Alex]

Yeah, wellness. Anyways, that's one of the great things about living in this country is the.

[Ben]

Design of the bark can. That's. That's what we got to live for down here. Can't go to the doctor, but you can get a can of barks that says it's good on it.

[Alex]

This has been Rupee Report and on to the.

[Ben]

The show, the main show. Here we are.

[Alex]

Let's. Yeah, let's.

[Ben]

Let's welcome back to the Carl Wilson podcast.

[Alex]

Carl Wilson 2.

[Ben]

Carl Wilson Men. Carl. Men.

[Alex]

Carl Carlman.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

Young Bloods. That's the name of our podcast.

[Ben]

That's Kind of cool.

[Alex]

I love that it's called Young Young Blood.

[Ben]

I love Young Blood. And I also love the. So that's what we call Carl track.

[Alex]

Of course, Carl's nickname is Youngblood.

[Ben]

Carl Youngblood Wilson. Yeah. It's 1983. It's, you know, we're. We're here in the.

[Alex]

In the.

[Ben]

In the trough of. Of the Beach Boys, but we, you know, it's the next record from the next Beach Boy, so that's what we're gonna talk about here. But, you know, honestly, if there was a big, long Carl Wilson solo career, I don't know that I would have had the stomach for it. But it's basically. This is it. There is sort of like a posthumous.

[Alex]

No, I don't say that.

[Ben]

Right. Posthumous record released by Carl and someone from like, Chicago and someone from America or something.

[Alex]

Chicago. Chicago is in America.

[Ben]

Well, there's a Chicago band and an America band.

[Alex]

Right.

[Ben]

There's even a Boston band. I don't know. There's some, you know, record that came out after he died that he did with these other, you know, jamokes. And it came from to like 2000 or something. I think we can probably pass on that one. But this is the second and, you know, for what it's worth, final real Carl Wilson solo effort. So I think this is. I think we, you know, we can. We can stomach one more of these. Not really many.

[Alex]

It's better than the last one.

[Ben]

Oh, it's much better than last. Yeah. I mean, for anyone who listened to the first Carl Wilson episode, that was a demoralizing effort all around, both the music as well as the conversation about it. But I'm pleasantly surprised with what's going on here on Youngblood because it. It's a good record. There's good songs on it. Imagine that.

[Alex]

It's. It's. It's a finished sounding record.

[Ben]

You sound skeptical, so.

[Alex]

Well, I mean, it just doesn't sound like the other one sounded which. Which really like, barely sounded. It barely sounded like it was done. Like it was. It was like the. The music equivalent of like just.

[Ben]

It's a Zevia. It's a Zevia ass record.

[Alex]

Yeah, it was like the blueprints, like, it was like when you see a house under construction with those, like, flags sticking out everywhere and just like. I guess I can picture how this would be if it was a house, but there's no roof or walls. But this. This feels like, you know, it's a finished structure. And yeah, it's. It's. It's Much more palatable.

[Ben]

Much, much, much more. And I would chalk that up to a new contributor on this record. Do you look at the credits on this album at all?

[Alex]

No.

[Ben]

Produced by one Jeff Skunk Baxter. He of Steely Dan and Doody Brothers and later Missile Defense Systems fame. He is the collaborator on this record. He, you know, he co produced it or he produced it and he plays on basically every track. You know, some ripsaw guitar work from him. That, that alone, I think just like takes this into a whole other level beyond, you know, beyond the previous record. It's not like it's, you know, we're not, we're not reinventing the wheel here in terms of rock music, but at least reinventing Carl Wilson's career in terms of making listenable, successful records. Shout out Skunk Baxter.

[Alex]

Yeah, there's some good guitar on it. I don't know, I don't know what else to say right, right now.

[Ben]

Well, don't worry. You're going to have a whole album worth of conversation in which to say it. You know what Skunk Baxter looks like?

[Alex]

No.

[Ben]

You should google him.

[Alex]

Skunk Baxter. See he's. Oh, he's got a really big droopy mustache.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's work of art there.

[Alex]

Yeah, that is cool.

[Ben]

Huge handlebars. Yeah. He was in, you know, the initial, the inaugural Steely Dan band and then I think departed.

[Alex]

He's also got the goatee. So it's like just under his mouth is just like a. It's like one giant but sort of narrow beard.

[Ben]

It all sort of blends together.

[Alex]

Yeah, it's just like he doesn't have a mouth or chin. It's just, it's just a white, just.

[Ben]

Kind of a white circle around his mouth.

[Alex]

A veil.

[Ben]

Yes. And he's got some fly like, you know, kind of pedo glasses too. I love that they, you know, Don and Walt, two weird looking fellas, managed to find an even weirder looking guy to be in the band with them initially.

[Alex]

He looks good. They all look good. This picture of him is really cool where he's wearing a black beret and he's got a calculator watch on.

[Ben]

Whoa. No, I haven't seen that.

[Alex]

Yeah, that one's pretty sick.

[Ben]

Oh, I see this down here. He's got like sort of a tweed.

[Alex]

Jacket maybe it's just like a blazer, like a blazer. And he's got a blue blazer and. Or navy. And a red guitar. Yellow guitar strap, Yellow aviators. Some kind of black like army style beret and the huge handlebar and the little. The calc watch. Yeah, it's very strong.

[Ben]

Fascinating guy. He, I don't know if you're aware, but he, you know, beyond being in Steely Dan and the Doobies and producing some records like this, he ended up pivoting into a defense like, like weaponry career in the 80s.

[Alex]

Wait, I thought you meant like that was like a side project, like the name of music project.

[Ben]

No, when I say you mean literally defense, I mean literally. Yeah. Here's the, here's the. If you go to the Wikipedia page.

[Alex]

For Skunk Baxter, the top level defense consulting career.

[Ben]

Exactly. The top level categories are early life and education, music career, defense consultancy.

[Alex]

Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident as we all. It happened, it happens.

[Ben]

Listen, look at us.

[Alex]

We almost end up being defense contractors like every day. Someone's like, hey, do you want to help do this? Do the Iron Dome for America. And I'm just like, maybe, but I got to do the podcast. Get back to you if you're ever free. So. His next door neighbor was a retired engineer who worked on the Sidewinder missile program. He bought Baxter a subscription to Aviation Week magazine, provoking his interest in additional military oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self taught in this area and at one point wrote a five page paper that proposed converting the ship based anti aircraft Aegis missiles into a rudimentary missile defense system.

[Ben]

Of course, why didn't I think of that? Converting ship based anti aircraft Aegis missiles into a rudimentary missile defense system.

[Alex]

I guess you just haven't spent enough time thinking about the subject.

[Ben]

Clearly I wasn't reading enough Aviation Week magazine. There is a great quote from quote from him here a little bit later on where it says, after it says that Baxter's work led to consulting contracts with the Pentagon and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. He consults for the US Department of Defense and the US Intelligence community as well as defense oriented manufacturers such as Science Applications International corporations, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Great quote from him, you know, kind of explaining this whole thing. He said, we thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments. And we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles. My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at.

[Alex]

Um, you know, terrorists turn airplanes into missiles and rappers turn Turntables into instruments. Instruments.

[Ben]

Skunk Baxter's turning Carl Wilson from, you know, a lukewarm potato into a hot, hotter potato, you know, slightly hotter, you know, maybe scalloped potato here on this record, it's extremely steely. It's, you know, it's. It just. It feels like something out of a steely dance song to have, like, a hotshot guitar session player in a band turn into a missile defense contractor.

[Alex]

I don't. I don't love the implications of what he's. Of that line of work. You know, I think that you could also say just like, you know, innocent defense contractors who used to be in prominent rock and roll groups, you know, they used their talents to come up with missile defense system ideas. And then. Then those missile defense systems get you explode. Children and Families by Israel.

[Ben]

Well, you know, it's missile defense. It's.

[Alex]

He's defending, well, self defense from the. From the starving children.

[Ben]

I think that the Israelis are using slightly different technology these days, but that's.

[Alex]

I don't know. They might be on that skunk. That skunk mode.

[Ben]

The skunk. Baxter tip. Yeah. I mean, obviously it, you know, we do not endorse the United States Department of Defense here on this program. But at the same time, I can't help but be a little bit kind of charmed and tickled by former Steely Dan guitarist turned missile defense contractor. We can assume that concept.

[Alex]

He was doing what he thought was right for his country.

[Ben]

That's right. And I think, you know, he's stopped doing this shit. As far as I know, he hasn't been contracting for the last, like, 15, 20 years at this point.

[Alex]

Well, the other thing about doing that kind of work is probably you never need to work again after doing it for a little bit of time, presumably. Here's $100 million.

[Ben]

We, you know, we should all be so lucky. Beyond that, he's got a huge, you know, kind of roster of people that he's worked with also over time.

[Alex]

What, in the defense industry?

[Ben]

No, in the music industry. Dolly Parton, Ringo Starr, Al Cooper, Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, Elton John. John Mellencamp. Dusty Springfield, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Cher, Joe.

[Alex]

Vladimir Putin.

[Ben]

The Beach Boys.

[Alex]

Benjamin Netanyahu.

[Ben]

No, no, no. Did you say Netanyahu? Nelk Boys interview.

[Alex]

The what?

[Ben]

The Nelk. Do you know what The Nelk Boys are?

[Alex]

No.

[Ben]

Wow. All right.

[Alex]

What is that?

[Ben]

They're our competition. I can't get into it on this.

[Alex]

But they mean our competition. They're doing a Beach Boys series.

[Ben]

They're manosphere podcasters who are speaking to the young men. Only they tend.

[Alex]

Nelk.

[Ben]

N E L K Nelk. Yeah, only they tend to talk about, like, crypto and like, you know, kind of sexually assaulting women. And Benjamin Netanyahu went on their podcast yesterday and someone left a comment on their page and said, it's like you had modern day Hitler on your podcast.

[Alex]

It is. It is like.

[Ben]

It's like that.

[Alex]

Yeah. Well, I don't think we've had anyone who could be described as. As Hitler of. Of the past or the modern day or present.

[Ben]

Yeah, you know, maybe Goebbels, maybe a Goring type character, but certainly no Hitler.

[Alex]

I don't know which one who that would be.

[Ben]

I'll let you fill that answer in for yourself.

[Alex]

Okay. Well, shall we talk about the album Youngblood?

[Ben]

Yeah, why not? We gotta do it at some point. I think the cover's cool.

[Alex]

Well, it's just like the last one, except it's in color and it's a close up. I like that the font, the typeface is like the same type of.

[Ben]

I think it might be the same. Yeah, same. Well, no, I don't think it's the same.

[Alex]

It's very similar, though. I like that there's a Carl Wilson look for these two. These two records.

[Ben]

It's a. Well, you know, it's a. It's a. It's a satisfying kind of presentation and imagery, you know, compared to, you know, the chintzy Mike Love looking back with love bullshit. I think, like, he's going for, you know, kind of a cleaned up, serious but classy look and pulling it off, really. You know, it doesn't have that. That. That stink that Dennis has on Pacific Ocean Blue, which, I mean, in a positive way, but, you know, he doesn't.

[Alex]

Have much going on. It's just a close up of him.

[Ben]

Y. You know, this could. Could be. Could be done a lot worse is what I'm saying. He's wearing a nice looking, you know.

[Alex]

Maybe like he's not wearing anything.

[Ben]

He's wearing, like a wool sweater.

[Alex]

I mean, you can't really tell. I can't tell in any of these pictures. It's so dark. It's just his. His face peeking from the darkness.

[Ben]

He's got some nice, you know, locks framing his face.

[Alex]

There were like 1 million billion records that look like this. Look, if you just go through the. Through the stacks at any record store and through like the. The bargain stack that there's just all like, so many records that are just like somebody in their name. And I mean, that's fine.

[Ben]

That may be the case, but there's only two records made by Carl Wilson, so I'm gonna. I'm gonna dig it based on that alone.

[Alex]

Not docking any points based on this image. It's totally fine.

[Ben]

Fair enough. All right, well, how about the music?

[Alex]

Well, the first one, what More Can I Say?

[Ben]

That's a Jokerman classic.

[Alex]

That is a classic thing that we say. What more can I say about this? It's. I do think that this one, like, announces that this record at least has some blood. And it's. No pun intended or pun intended, some blood in its veins. It's actually feels a little energetic. There's. There's more than three instruments at play here. I. I think it's totally fine. What more can I say?

[Ben]

What. What more can I say? It. Yeah, I think it. I mean, this is what I was saying initially, like, the. The guitar on this man is like. It's pretty ripping, certainly compared to anything that you heard on that first record. Like this. This was just like. Was not present there, sound wise. It's got this, like, kind of cool, you know, kind of praggy, almost like Genesis synthesizer type of thing. Also, like, it sounds like a real, you know, rock band, which is, in my mind, you know, a major. A major credit in his direction. I think someone just decided like. Or maybe Carl himself decided like, man, the first thing you did, the first route just didn't. That was dead on arrival. It's like it wasn't working for anyone, I guess Heaven was like kind of a, you know, lowly charting song, but it wasn't something that he tried to repeat on this record. I think that's. That's impressive. You know, it's a low bar to clear, I guess, you know. But when we're coming off of the first zero star record in the whole Beach Boys.

[Alex]

Yeah, we actually did give another zero stars. I remembered another Beach Boys record.

[Ben]

Zero.

[Alex]

Well, we gave Murray Wilson's album.

[Ben]

Oh, well, you know that It's.

[Alex]

He's a Wilson.

[Ben]

He is a Wilson.

[Alex]

The, er. Wilson.

[Ben]

That's true. Anyways, the first Carl record. One of the worst records we've talked about ever. And so I'm inclined to give him a little extra credit on this one just for kind of showing up and doing something that's passable.

[Alex]

Yeah. Yes.

[Ben]

But, you know, musically or lyrically, I don't know that there's a whole lot to really get into here. I do pick up on this record actually sort of a hint of some strife, some marital difficulty and stuff. I kind of don't know exactly where he was at with his romantic situation at this point in time, but there is, like, sort of an edge. I think he even calls. He even calls A1 a bitch in one song.

[Alex]

Maybe the next song, I had to. I was kind of doing a double take.

[Ben]

You don't think of Sweet Carl, Cool Carl as being the one to, you know, be tossing around the B word. But sure enough, it's this.

[Alex]

Is that on this song? The next song?

[Ben]

I think it's on the next song. But this song, I think kind of is working in that same. Is working in that same vein. You put me out of your life with nowhere to go and you left me without love and nothing to show of the love that you told me had died did you think I had another? Did I ever blow my cover? Now you want me to come back to you? You know that you do? When does he say bitch in the next song?

[Alex]

Okay, I'm on to the next song. I mean, I'm not thinking about the first song anymore.

[Ben]

I'm still digging the Skunk Baxter guitar riffs on this one, man. This is like. This is pretty badass. I dig it. Anyways, the bitch song. How about that?

[Alex]

She's mine.

[Ben]

She's mine.

[Alex]

Is that right?

[Ben]

The bitch is mine.

[Alex]

Carl, you sound like one of the Nelk boys.

[Ben]

That's right. Yeah. The bitch can't help it if she can't be trusted. True. This situation's getting lewd. She tries my patience every once in a while because she knows I like her style.

[Alex]

Wow. I don't see bitch in the genius lyrics here.

[Ben]

It's right there. Are you on the right page?

[Alex]

It says, the girl can't help it if she can't be. True.

[Ben]

Yeah. Scroll down a little bit more.

[Alex]

Oh, the bitch can't. In the second time he says the same thing.

[Ben]

Exactly.

[Alex]

Wow. Okay, so it's an escalation, sort of.

[Ben]

Yeah. Illustrating, you know, some rising anger from Carl there.

[Alex]

Carl, don't say that.

[Ben]

He's trying. He's trying to put across an image here, you know, is what I'm saying. Between the kind of cool, calm, classed up imagery on the COVID the fancy little script font, the stark, you know, all black background and photography. And now he's, you know, slinging around the B word on the songs. He's cool. Carl has grown up here. He's not the little roly poly that we used to love.

[Alex]

I do like the guitar on this.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's cool. Like, it's. It's like there's something else going on here, you know, I think what is part of the problem with the first record? Like, there's nothing going on. You know, Carl's voice is really the thing that he has going for him. He's not, you know, a great lyricist necessarily, and he can produce and arrange some great Beach Boys music. But the first record doesn't really have a whole lot of Beach Boys sound. Fine, not a problem. He's going away from the Beach Boys, trying to strike out on his own. But he didn't fill that space with anything. You don't have the lyrics. You don't have the Beach Boys arrangements or the production. So it's just like Carl singing some sort of milquetoast, whatever songs. And here they put something in that hole and it's this, you know, something in that hole. You know, you got to fill the hole. That's. Everyone knows that's. That's how life. That's the circle of life. That's how this world keeps turning.

[Alex]

Well, I. I think that it kind of sounds like, I don't know, like the cars or something.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

Which, you know, that there's worse things. I guess it's.

[Ben]

I mean, it's got a little bit. We keep coming back to this growing up in public thing, but, you know, some of that kind of like corny, like stinky hard rock sound, I feel like from that record is showing up. It's shown up in a lot of records at this point in time.

[Alex]

This one is better than that in a way. Or at least it comes off cleaner. Cause it's like, not as operatic or, like, weird. It's just kind of. It is what it is. It's just that type of music, basically. And I actually kind of like that he's angry on this. Like, I don't read it as being like the Billy Joel kind of like cooked up anger, like, where it's like, are you really even upset?

[Ben]

Or just imagine if Billy ever did. Ever called a woman a.

[Alex]

He.

[Ben]

He would hear it till the end of his days.

[Alex]

He could do it.

[Ben]

I mean, he could, but he never did.

[Alex]

I guess he didn't.

[Ben]

I mean, in the songs that I've heard. So there's still three albums that I haven't really listened to.

[Alex]

But I feel like him as saying. Saying bitch in this song. I actually feel like Carl wouldn't put that in there unless he was actually kind of actually at his wits end. So it makes me think, like, all right, this is. This is A real song.

[Ben]

Boy, she really must be a bitch if she's getting Carl to call her one.

[Alex]

And yet he likes her style.

[Ben]

That's right.

[Alex]

He's so frustrated. Okay, so giving you up first ballad.

[Ben]

Well, ballad, but also like kind of a bop at the same time. It's got the. It's got the slower kind of, you know, piano spacey type thing to begin. But I think when it comes into the chorus here, man. Like it. This one does it for me. I think this is a great song.

[Alex]

I'm looking at on the Beach Boys Reddit. There's actually a. A list here of best, worst, and most underrated tracks from this album.

[Ben]

I think this is probably the best or one of the best to me.

[Alex]

What you do to me is considered the best. I do not see that, honestly.

[Ben]

What you do to me is good too. But, you know, listen, I've been hearing.

[Alex]

That in the lead up to this. We'll get there, but we'll get there anyway. Given you up.

[Ben]

It fits into a common through line, I think of sonic textures that we tend to talk about on this program. Anyways, what is the.

[Alex]

Giving you up? Yeah, giving you up. You know, I think it's pretty good, I guess.

[Ben]

I think it's great. It's. I mean, we're sort of treading water lyrically here. Whatever sort of edge or interesting attention grabbing you get from the last song seems to kind of go out the window on this one. I need to tell you why I've been unhappy it's been too long on my mind Got to admit you were there when I needed still there's something I gotta find oh, my darling I've been thinking about giving you up. You know, yada, yada. But I think the music, the song is just, like, really well executed. I love this, like, huge dramatic, you.

[Alex]

Know, giving you up.

[Ben]

Catchy. Exactly. Chorus that we get to here and the way that the music kind of like, you know, stalls out and kind of sings and then it comes back again. It's like someone really knew what they were doing, arranging and executing this song. And I would probably chalk that up once again to skunk. To skunk. That's right. Da man.

[Alex]

Yeah. This song is kind of just whatever to me, but the way it sounds is pretty, um. It's. It's much better than the last one in the sense that, like, the last one, there's nothing really wrong with the way it sounds, but there's nothing right added to that. It's just like the most plain, dry, like, kind of Swagless thing. And this at least just is skinless chicken breast. This is like chicken breast that is. Has the skin. That's the difference.

[Ben]

It's like maybe a little mustard marinade.

[Alex]

Know about that? But there's salt and pepper, and it's not like, obliterated. You know, that was. The last one was just like the kind of thing you feed your. Your dog or like it. It was just nothing to it, you know, this is.

[Ben]

This is like a.

[Alex]

It's a rotisserie chicken from, like, any sort of. Any supermarket chain. You're like, all right, you know, I'm not mad. Why would I be mad? It's fine.

[Ben]

I found a new chicken place by me, so I don't need to buy rotisserie chickens from the supermarket.

[Alex]

What's your new chicken place?

[Ben]

It's called Pollo Supremo Chicken Supreme. That's right. That's what they say in espanol. Unfortunately, there's not. Like, I go to Safeway typically, so the rotisserie chickens they have there are always kind of wet and they're wet but also dry at the same time. It's, like, not so good. The Costco chicken, obviously, is the chicken par excellence, especially for $5. But the Safeway chicken was always really unsatisfying. Anyways, I can go to Pollo Supremo right down Mission, get a nice charbroiled bird.

[Alex]

Oh, wow, that's good. That sounds good.

[Ben]

You got a Go to chicken spot.

[Alex]

There's a ch. Yeah. I mean, California Chicken Cafe is pretty good. Oh, it's a chain.

[Ben]

Great. I love ccc, but they do.

[Alex]

They have a good rotisserie.

[Ben]

Did they do the whole bird there, or did they. Interesting. I don't think I've ever gotten that.

[Alex]

It's good.

[Ben]

I typically get the salad. One of the salads.

[Alex]

No, they do. They do a good bird. In fact, I might even. Might even do that. There's a new chicken place also where the. The Burger King used to be in Echo Park.

[Ben]

Anyway, you ever go to Dino's?

[Alex]

Yeah, I have Dino's. Like, I like it, but it's also kind of fucked up. But it is.

[Ben]

You can only eat it every one. That's not like a regular, like, once a week type of thing. But when you're the mood for that and the fries with that, whatever that.

[Alex]

Is, they have like, a vinegary sauce.

[Ben]

It's good as.

[Alex]

Yeah, that's.

[Ben]

And the chicken's like. Like bright orange.

[Alex]

Yeah. And they kind of like. They sort of overcook it.

[Ben]

Yeah. But it's like, you know, it's a thing.

[Alex]

It is, yeah. It's kind of a classic Los Angeles thing.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

One more night Giving you up. How about one more night alone? This is. This is just, you know, this is what happens after you. You've called her a bitch and then you've got one more night alone. Look at what you've done.

[Ben]

Yeah, I mean, this was it worth ballad here. Somebody said all things will pass all things will pass away. It seems kind of slow and somehow I know I'm gonna spend one more night alone Totally competent and like, if this is the type of song you want to hear. Sure. I don't know that anyone ever wants to hear this specific version of this song. And in fact, I can almost guarantee that's the case because it has 16,000 plays on Spotify. We just keep finding, like, less and less popular records to talk about somehow, which is kind of fun. I do think that a song like this, though, and a record like this throws into relief, you know, our studies of Mr. Joel at the same time, because, you know, there are 900 Billy Joel songs that fit into this same emotional register. And yet I think even the worst of those, like, there's. It's got something more going on to it, you know, whether it's a little like earworm hook or like an interesting line that Billy wrote or even just like some kind of, you know, inventive phrasing the way he sings it or something. Like there's something to. To recommend it again, whether or not it's your particular flavor versus this is just like, it's the next song to listen to on this record.

[Alex]

Yeah, it's just. This is just that type of song. It's just like the. The little chiming, little like bell tone synth and the big drums that kick in. It's.

[Ben]

There's a big horn on this one that's kind of cool.

[Alex]

It's. It's completely forgettable. But. Yeah.

[Ben]

Yeah, you know it.

[Alex]

But I don't hate it. I don't.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's not. I mean, it's not offensive here. And I think it works. It works well enough in this context. If this song was on the first record, I would have been so pissed off at it because there's just too much of this shit on the first record. But here it's like, all right, I'll let you get away with one of these, Carl, as long as you can, you know, kind of get me. Get me going again afterwards.

[Alex]

Rocking all over the world.

[Ben]

Does that get you Going, yes, sure does. Come on. Who doesn't want to do that?

[Alex]

What? Do what you do to me. What do you think of that song?

[Ben]

No, no, no, no, no. You gotta spend two seconds on rocking all over the world.

[Alex]

Do I?

[Ben]

You do.

[Alex]

What more can I say? I like it. I like it. I like it.

[Ben]

Yeah, that is what you can say. Exactly. I mean, this is.

[Alex]

It's got some honky tonk piano type stuff. It's got.

[Ben]

I like it, I like it. Here we go rocking all over the world Gonna tell your mama what your daddy do Come out tonight with your dancing shoes Here we go rocking all over the world again like, this is. This is the same year as Innocent Man. Like, I feel like he's doing kind of 80s 50s shit with this also. And it's fine, you know, it's fun enough. But again, I think he's outclassed once again by Big Bill.

[Alex]

Okay, now we can talk about what you do to me.

[Ben]

Sure. Okay. Another Mario Kart song.

[Alex]

This is the one that everyone was like, oh, what you do to me, though? That song's great. I don't care what. What you say about Carl, but you gotta admit that one's great. And that's the same thing people said about heaven, which is like a snooze. I'm sorry. Like, I'm not going to be convinced that the song Heaven is like some great secret, secret song.

[Ben]

Like, this is a bop, though.

[Alex]

Do you feel that about Heaven? Everyone was like, oh, come on. Heaven's so good. It's like, is it?

[Ben]

I don't think it's fine. Yeah. I mean, it's probably the best of those songs on that record, but, like, it's still on that record and such a. When there's seven other songs like that, it's hard to really tap in. I think what you do to me, though, is. This is great. This is Mario Kart character select screen music.

[Alex]

The beginning part.

[Ben]

Exactly. And that is a canon of music that I'm very happy with.

[Alex]

I just think it's pretty boring. And lyrically, it's. There's nothing. Okay. You love this song.

[Ben]

I'm listening to it right now. It's. It's bop.

[Alex]

It's fine. But I want to hear him do something that has, like, a little something like.

[Ben]

Like, you would like the song better if he said in it.

[Alex]

I would. Because I'd like him to do something that goes even, like a tiny bit against type, like give me some kind of friction here instead of just like another song that's like, what you do to me? I mean, just come on. Come on. Come up with, like, anything. Like, give me anything. Rocking all over the world. And what you do to me are just like. Okay, all right, well, this.

[Ben]

I think it's worth noting that this is a cover of a John hall song that had come out on a John hall solo record.

[Alex]

Okay.

[Ben]

A couple years before. You know, John Hall.

[Alex]

John Hall.

[Ben]

John Hall. Wait, I was thinking. This is hall from hall and Oates. This is not. This is not that guy. This guy John Hall. No, that's.

[Alex]

That's not Hall.

[Ben]

Okay, clicking John hall on the Wikipedia page from Youngblood takes you to John Joseph hall, which. Wait, no, this is the guy. He's a New York pol. What the fuck is up with this? He's a. He's a musician and also a New York politician.

[Alex]

This is the same guy.

[Ben]

What the hell?

[Alex]

The American musician, songwriter, politician, environmentalist. What is this a guy that Skunk Baxter knew from his military defense life?

[Ben]

I think this is pre.

[Alex]

No, this is like, you know, military song. Is. Is. Is this.

[Ben]

What the. What is going on with these guys in this? Yeah, so he. He was in a group called Kangaroo, Composed music for a Broadway theater trilogy, released a bunch of solo albums.

[Alex]

I love this page. Tenure in Congress, policy positions, discography.

[Ben]

That's great. In 1977, hall left to. Okay, so he was in something called Orleans, which was like a studio musician group, it looks like. And he worked with Janis Joplin and Jackson Brown, Little Feet, Bonnie Ray and.

[Alex]

The John Hall Band. Has an album called all of the.

[Ben]

Above from 81.co founded musicians United for Safe Energy with Jackson Browne. Second solo recording song called Power, which became an environmental anthem performed by Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, the Doobies, and James Taylor. Boy.

[Alex]

There's an album from 2000. What's his most recent one? 2021. Reclaiming My Time on Sunset Boulevard Records.

[Ben]

That sounds like a Van Morrison song.

[Alex]

Yeah, that does sound like a Van Morrison song title. Absolutely. The songs on here kind of sound like Van song titles. I think of you alone too long. Mystic Blue.

[Ben]

Mystic Blue. That's straight off Avalon, Sunset.

[Alex]

Now more than ever, all up and down from here. Future ex wife. That's a good one.

[Ben]

That also sounds like a Van Morrison song.

[Alex]

So this is. This is an active musician. He's got a lot of. A lot of stuff that he's done. And this is.

[Ben]

Man, I'm in an important step. This guy's cool. I'm into him. During the fall of 2005, the guy he's, he was involved with mid Hudson nuclear opponents who fought the sitting of a nuclear power plant on the Hudson River. He got elected to, I guess looks like the House of Representatives representing like Socrates area and like was an opponent of the Iraq war and like called George Bush.

[Alex]

That's good.

[Ben]

You know, it's like turbo lib from the George Bush era and also worked with Carl Wilson and Jackson Brown. That's like, I'm into that.

[Alex]

What about the Colbert Report? He said, Stephen Colbert said that he opposes everything that John hall stands for. But that was when he was doing his character.

[Ben]

That was the character. Yeah, A lot of people are into that. Did you notice how riled up people got about the Stephen Colbert TV show getting canceled?

[Alex]

Well, I think it's because it's the Late show being canceled. They're not replacing him, it's just done.

[Ben]

It probably should have ended after Letterman. Like it's, you know.

[Alex]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben]

For that matter, put the Tonight show out of its misery. Jimmy Fallon is desecrating that institution night in, night out.

[Alex]

I guess it was partly because people were like, well, Trump. It's a victory for Trump. Is it because he didn't like it?

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

I don't know. Cbs, it's being perceived as cbs bending the knee to Trump. I'm not sure how much that is.

[Ben]

Accurate, but you know, we got bigger fish to fry these days, people.

[Alex]

Yeah. Well, back to what you do to me, I'm now I was desperate. I was searching, like, give me something, give me something about this song and I'm not disappointed. We found an interesting thing about this song, John Hall. It's written by a career politician, a cool guy. So that's great.

[Ben]

Once again, any sort of Nintendo esque type song I'm not gonna shake a stick at. We gotta put up a playlist. That's like all the Nintendo songs.

[Alex]

Yeah, that's true.

[Ben]

This fits, right? I mean, I guess it also makes sense because there was plenty of Nintendo shit in Steely Dan. So Skunk Baxter, you know, bringing that, bringing that energy through himself.

[Alex]

Yeah. To me.

[Ben]

What you do to me. All right, Youngblood, title track back.

[Alex]

So this is, this is all right. You know.

[Ben]

Yeah, could be worse.

[Alex]

But. But it's, it's not him. Who's the young blood? I was hoping that it would be a song about like, they call me the Young blood.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

But it's not that. It's him calling Young blood a girl. Young blood.

[Ben]

Which, like, you know what? How about this? Another. It's another cover. More covers on this record than I realize, now that I'm looking at the credits. Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller. Lieber Stoller. Third credit. Doc Thomas. Oh, now you like it?

[Alex]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben]

Mm, mm, mm, mm. First became a hit by the Coasters in 1957. Another 80s 50s thing here. I didn't realize that Carl is as into that thing.

[Alex]

They all are.

[Ben]

Yeah, I guess. But I don't feel like Brian really ever did.

[Alex]

What do you mean? All of his. Well, maybe not the 50s. I mean. No, no, he's.

[Ben]

But like, in the 80s is what I mean. Like, obviously there's plenty of four freshmen and stuff in there. But, like, I don't really hear a whole lot. I guess by the time the first Brian solo record comes out, like, 80s 50s is kind of over.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Ben]

The Beatles did this song too, apparently.

[Alex]

I've heard of them.

[Ben]

Yeah. Youngblood. It's fun. There's some, you know, fat horns and, you know, there's some nice vocal arrangements behind him.

[Alex]

If this is what it takes to. To cement the title of the record, that's fine by me.

[Ben]

I don't want it to call your record Youngblood and have that be a cover, like one of the covers on your record.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Ben]

Which might, you know.

[Alex]

Well, it's, you know, he. He's, I think, making a gesture toward being young, I suppose.

[Ben]

You know, I think it could also indicate a little bit of how invested and capable of a solo career Carl.

[Alex]

Really was saying Youngblood because he's. He's reaching back into his past, his childhood, for a song. Then he. That's still part of him. How about that?

[Ben]

How about that?

[Alex]

Next one is called of the Times. This is probably the most. Damn.

[Ben]

I don't remember this one.

[Alex]

You don't?

[Ben]

Well, I don't. I. I don't. I didn't know the names of any of these songs.

[Alex]

Heard you say that you didn't like the state of the. That the world is in. Oh, yeah.

[Ben]

Oh, yeah. This one's cool.

[Alex]

I like. Not a day passes that your faith in man don't get mighty grim. Well, I feel that one.

[Ben]

Amen.

[Alex]

It's just a part of the times. It's just a part of the times. You know that phrase that people say, hey, it's just a part of the times.

[Ben]

Is he saying that it's a part of the times, or are you saying you're a part of the times? You're just a part of the times?

[Alex]

I think he does both.

[Ben]

Oh, he says both? Yeah. It's just a part of the times. If you're just a part of the times.

[Alex]

This is true. We're all, all just one. You want to settle back into the old days of serenity. But you're just a part of the times.

[Ben]

You're just a part of the times. Huh? So he's sort of calling someone out here saying you're a part of the times. But not me.

[Alex]

It's like only a fool would say that. You say you want to have peace of mind. You tell me that you find life is much too unkind.

[Ben]

Only a fool would say that.

[Alex]

But who else can you blame for the state of your mentality? If you're just a part of the time.

[Ben]

Yeah, interesting.

[Alex]

You will not get a thing for a dime. You struggle through the passions, the greed and the crime. But who else can you blame for the state of your mentality?

[Ben]

Sort of a society type song here from Carl Wilson.

[Alex]

He says mentality a lot.

[Ben]

Yeah, you know, I like, I like the chorus and I like the way they kind of bring it together. It's sort of, you know, a stupid guy type style.

[Alex]

You're just a part of the guitar.

[Ben]

That'S fun, that's nice.

[Alex]

I think. Sort of stands out.

[Ben]

Some cool, Some cool ripping from Skunk on the guitar. So like, I'll enjoy that. I won't get mad at that.

[Alex]

Too early to tell. That's how we feel right now about this record. How many stars do we give it? I don't know. We're not there yet. Too early to tell. But this one's got some energy. It's. It's got some. Some vim and vigor.

[Ben]

Yeah, I don't remember this one.

[Alex]

I barely remember.

[Ben]

Oh yeah, no, I remember this. I. I remember the chorus. There's some cool drums on this.

[Alex]

I guess.

[Ben]

Yeah, sure. At least, you know, I. I guess what I would say for these, you know, we're into late on the Youngblood record at this point. Oh, this is the one. There's a. Is that a woman singing on this song? Right, besides Carl?

[Alex]

Maybe.

[Ben]

Yeah, that's Myrna Smith. That's his co writer on this record. And the woman who co wrote on the first record as well. She was a backing vocalist for Elvis, which I think we failed to mention previously.

[Alex]

Well, okay, on that note, there is actually another thing on the streaming page for Carl. It is Carl Wilson and Myrna Smith doing a song called this is Elvis.

[Ben]

What? Yeah, this is Elvis. Oh yeah, I see that. From 2015. Carl dead for like 20 years at that point.

[Alex]

Something that was released from the Vaults. It sounds like it's a. It's just a demo.

[Ben]

Well, just save it because we're gonna have to do a whole episode on the. This is Elvis release, Carl. Well, we're gonna have to find a way to spin an hour out of it. I'm sorry. We managed to almost do it on this one.

[Alex]

This is Elvis. It's actually a quiet acoustic ballad. This is a very odd song.

[Ben]

Interesting.

[Alex]

Okay, anyway, back to Youngblood. If I could talk to love. I like that one.

[Ben]

This one is fucking stupid.

[Alex]

I like this one.

[Ben]

If I talk to love, the concept is if you could talk to love.

[Alex]

If I could talk to the concept of love.

[Ben]

I hate it. I hate that.

[Alex]

What does he say, though? He says we. We toy with love, but we play the feudal game. This reminds me very much of, like, I write the songs. Like, this one feels very much like a Bruce.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

This is the Bruce song.

[Ben]

I could absolutely hear Bruce's weepy little vocals doing this one.

[Alex]

And, like, the. That piano, the kind of. That's very, like, signature kind of Bruce quality to this.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Alex]

The keyboard.

[Ben]

I'm getting some Doug from this song.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Ben]

Yeah. If I could talk to love I'd say have it your way. If I could talk to Doug, that's a better song.

[Alex]

I'd say do you want to dance with me?

[Ben]

Do you want to dance? Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. You gotta be really stupid to keep up with these jokes at this point. Yeah. I put myself into your hands from this moment I make known to bands if I could dock the love I'd say have it your way. Love, have it your way.

[Alex]

Very wise words. And on that same wise way of thinking, we go to the last song, which is called Time, which is very profound.

[Ben]

Pure banger. Absolute heat here at the end of this record. I love this song.

[Alex]

I think that I'm lulled a little bit by the time we get to time into. Oh, come on. Listening.

[Ben]

Come in, like, 10 seconds in.

[Alex]

Yeah. Yeah, that's good.

[Ben]

Sounds like an F0 song or something.

[Alex]

This is give me a little time. Can't always have you on my mind Give me a little space.

[Ben]

This is great.

[Alex]

Don't always want you on my case, you bitch.

[Ben]

That's right. I don't need the problem of being at your beck and call. Super catchy. I think this song is great. And it's weird that it's the last song on the record. I mean, I guess it. It's good to have a really great last song instead of, you know, sort of a dog shit Throwaway, last song. Which has happened on plenty of these records we've talked about recently. But I like, if there was like this could have been a career for Carl. I think based on some of these songs, you know, I think giving you up, what you do to me time, even some of the more, you know, mid tempo, mid tier songs. Like there's actually some good music that I like to listen to on this record. And you know, I guess he. We heard it from Brian on that interview from the Cocaine sessions. Like Carl's gonna have to come back to the band because he can't make money otherwise. So he wised up on his own and decided this isn't really going anywhere for me. But there was a hint. There was a hint of something I think that we're getting to here. By the end of Youngblood.

[Alex]

Two out of three. Two out of three, Carl points.

[Ben]

Yeah. No, two out of three stars. I'm gonna, you know, no hedging, no ifs, ands or buts. Made a good record here and.

[Alex]

Well, he certainly didn't make a terrible record.

[Ben]

He didn't make Carl Wilson too, thank God. Yeah. But you know, it. I guess for whatever it's worth, it wasn't really selling. Wasn't really.

[Alex]

I don't know, I got to give it. This is a one star out of three actually. Come on. Are we like, Come on.

[Ben]

No, I think it's good. It's good record. This is one of the better records we've listened to recently. I gotta say. Like, I think this record is better. It's better than the Mic record. It's better than the first Karl record. It's better than. Certainly better than Miu. It is maybe better than Light album.

[Alex]

Is it better than Miu? I think Miu is more interesting.

[Ben]

I think this. I enjoy listening to this more than.

[Alex]

Miu's got no Bells of Paris on this.

[Ben]

Thank God. Miu might be more into That's Lighthomme.

[Alex]

Whatever. Yeah. Anyway.

[Ben]

Yeah, I mean it might be because, I mean, boy, we listen to first love. I listen to country love. We listen to. You know, we've been going through a rough patch here and so like I think just getting some competent, catchy pop rock music made by a Wilson, that's enough to tide me over here.

[Alex]

Maybe I could get used to this album just.

[Ben]

Oh, come on. Time. That's a banger. Giving you up, I think. Super catchy. What you do to me. I think he's got three. Three hits on this.

[Alex]

It's still humorless and like the Fact that there's so much, like, fun music from this time that is, like, not so different from this, but is just also, like, way more enjoyable on, like, a lyrical and just on a vibe level. I think about, like, every. Like, all the Nilsson records. And, like, even Harry Nilsson was done.

[Ben]

Making records by this point.

[Alex]

Yeah. But, like, you know that there's, like, that's the competition. That's, like, the lane for this. And, like, I'm not saying those, you know, those weren't big hits either, but, like, there's just a lack of fun being had. Like, even the songs that are, like, up tempo on this, he's just, like, talking about, like, how freaking pissed off he is. Like, and there's nothing more to it. Like, there's no. It's either like, oh, this is crazy how. How sexy you are, but it's kind of sexless too. Or it's like, if I could love. Love. Or what about thinking about the times that are going on? Maybe you're doing too much of that. Listen, she's like, all right, it's a one out of three for me. I mean, we gave zero to the other one. I'm not gonna. I'm gonna. You can't fake, like, having any kind of point of view. Like, he doesn't. There's a couple times on here where it's just like, yeah, you're trying to fake having a point of view. Like, there isn't one.

[Ben]

Sure. But, you know, I don't need every record to have a point of view.

[Alex]

No. But at least I need it to be catchier than this.

[Ben]

It does it for me on the.

[Alex]

Catchy quotient, I guess. It's solid. It's solid. It's edible.

[Ben]

It works. Exactly. Not the best meal of your life, but it'll get to the next one. And I think at this point, that's about all we can ask for here on this program. I mean, I think it's clear, like, there's a reason why there aren't any more Carl Wilson records at this point or after this one. Because he didn't really have a point of view. He didn't really have a whole lot to say, but at least he got to say what little he had to say in a competently produced and, again, to me, at least relatively catchy album at this point. But this is it for the Carl career. And, you know, we've got. We gotta. We gotta bid adieu to. To one of the boys on our next episode before we get back to the band proper with the beach boys self titled 1985 record. And then we got. Then we're on to Brian. The Brian series is going to. I'm excited to keep rolling with the Big Man.

[Alex]

Yeah, that's some real music. With all the emotions contained therein at some point and some that there aren't names for. I would say in Brian's solo career. There's plenty to discuss.

[Ben]

Indeed. All that and more coming soon on Jokerman. Ram Sam.