Teaser // Mike Love: SALUTE NASCAR + Al Jardine: LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

Summary

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Jokermen Podcast: Teaser // Mike Love: SALUTE NASCAR + Al Jardine: LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

Date: February 2, 2026
Hosts: Host 1 & Evan

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Episode Overview

This episode of Jokermen is a candid, self-aware reflection on the “dregs” of the Beach Boys’ catalog: reviewing the niche releases Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and David Marks Salute NASCAR and Al Jardine: Live in Las Vegas. The hosts riff on podcasting fatigue, the completionist impulse, and how reviewing late-career outtakes reveals as much about the band—and the podcasters themselves—as any beloved classic. It's a meta, behind-the-scenes peek at what it's like to do it again on a deep-dive music podcast nearing the end of a multi-year Beach Boys project.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Self-Reflection on the Podcast’s Journey

• The hosts contemplate their ongoing, exhaustive Beach Boys retrospective and openly question their own (and their audience’s) continued interest in these more marginal releases.
• Evan’s skepticism is clear:

  “Well, is there someone out there who is? … I’m wondering that aloud. I’m sincerely wondering that.” (01:45, Evan)

• Host 1 defends the process of “getting to the dregs,” finding value in completion—as they did with previous artists:

  “I kind of like when we get to…like a bag of shake at this point. Like, we’re just smoking stems and seeds. I kind of like that. I liked when we got to that on the Bob stuff…When we did, like, the back album rankings. … I enjoy when we get to these kind of heady days of the series when they’re a little overripe, we’re all kind of a little bit ready to break out…” (04:24, Host 1)

2. The Mechanics of Podcast Planning

• The hosts reveal that they combined these two Beach Boys outlier projects into one episode on purpose, rather than subjecting themselves (and listeners) to two separate deep-dives.

  “And we put those in one episode…there was a moment when on our schedule, those were separate.” (02:34, Evan)

3. Series Fatigue and the Completionist Dilemma

• Evan describes how friends and family react to the never-ending Beach Boys focus:

  “Some people, like people close to me have said, really? You’re still doing the Beach Boys? And I’ve said, yes…” (03:21, Evan)

• The hosts draw parallels to their completionist approach with other artists (Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, etc.), reminiscing about the fun and fatigue of picking through lesser-known releases.

4. Embracing the Dregs and Ancillary Content

• The show enters a more relaxed phase, which allows for asides and indulgent tangents:

  “I kind of enjoy the opportunity to sit back and take it easy. Cause these are lower pressure episodes. … Oftentimes we get the opportunity to talk about many of our favorite ancillary subjects, whether they be beverages or Nintendo or Disneyland…” (06:29, Host 1)

• Host 1 argues this meta-commentary and the act of doing it again mirrors the Beach Boys’ own late-career repetition:

  “There’s something thematically resonant about…they just keep doing the same guys do the same shit over and over again. … We’re kind of like, I don’t know, becoming Mike Love ourselves by talking about all this shit and doing it again…” (07:04, Host 1)

5. Looking Ahead: New Podcast Subjects

• Hints are dropped about the next series:

  “We actually have two exciting subjects coming up. … One that was even a surprise to me…a shorter body of work, a few records…predominantly 21st century work.” (05:48–06:22, Evan & Host 1)

• The hosts note how upcoming series might not feature such deep stretches into “bonus disc” obscurity, and express excitement for a change of pace and renewed rigor.

6. Thematic Closure & Mutual Understanding

• As the show edges toward closure, both hosts reaffirm their mutual affection for the process—even the tedious or baffling parts:

  “I think it’s a necessary note in the complex aroma of the Ode to Jokerman.” (07:03, Host 1) “Maybe we need to…sharpen up…there is…great fun to be had in…the kinds of podcasts where you sit down knowing we’re going to be there for, like, four hours…” (08:29, Evan)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the appeal (or lack thereof) of this episode:

  “I get the sense that you’re not very excited for this episode.” (01:42, Host 1)
  “Well, is there someone out there who is?...I’m sincerely wondering that.” (01:45, Evan)

• Rolling with late-career B-side episodes:

  “It’s like a bag of shake at this point. Like, we’re just smoking stems and seeds.” (04:24, Host 1)

• On becoming what you study:

  “We’re kind of like...becoming Mike Love ourselves by talking about all this shit and doing it again…” (07:04, Host 1)

• Meta-commentary on effort:

  “The people doing it didn’t spend that much time. So it’s only right that we don’t either.” (09:13, Host 1)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:46 – Mike Love’s NASCAR audio introduction
• 01:23 – Hosts’ humorous “do it again” Beach Boys intro
• 01:40–02:34 – Admitting lack of enthusiasm and why these two albums were merged into one episode
• 03:21 – “Are we really still doing the Beach Boys?”; fatigue from friends and family
• 04:24 – Host 1’s defense: value of reaching niche/end-of-catalog episodes
• 05:48–06:22 – Hints at next podcast series, moving into 21st-century artists
• 07:04 – Becoming what you study: embracing the endless cycle of “do it again”
• 08:29–09:13 – Anticipating return to more substantive podcasting, and a final joke about proportional effort

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, irreverent, and deeply self-aware—practically meta-podcasting.
• Balances wry frustration with genuine affection for both the Beach Boys and the grind of a completionist series.

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Summary

This episode stands as a witty meta-commentary on podcasting past its natural endpoint. The hosts riff, self-analyze, and—like Mike Love himself—do it again, circling the Beach Boys' lesser-known work with humor and gentle resignation. It’s an inside-baseball look at the joys and exhaustion found in music obsession, with the promise of new adventures just on the horizon.

Transcript

[Host 1]

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[Mike Love]

Hi, this is Mike Love of the Beach Boys. As you've probably figured out by now, cool cars and hot fun at the beach have always been close to my heart. That's why I'm pleased to have recorded with the help of Beach Boys Bruce Johnston and David Marks and our buddy Dean Torrance of Jan and Dean, some of our all time favorites. This CD is brought to you by 76, the official fuel of NASCAR. And I'm hoping these songs will bring you as many good vibrations as a checkered flag at Daytona Beach.

[Evan]

Welcome back again, do it again to Jokerman, the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson and Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. And Beach Boys And Brian Wilson and Beach Boys podcast.

[Host 1]

And NASCAR podcast. I'm in.

[Evan]

I'm Evan.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I get the sense that you're not very excited for this episode.

[Evan]

Well, is there someone out there who is? I mean, I'm not just being flippant here. I'm wondering that aloud. I'm sincerely wondering that.

[Host 1]

I mean, we were just in the context of, or just for the sake of transparency, we were having a conversation along these lines a little bit before we started recording. And I figured, let's get this on the show because it's a topic worth talking about. We're getting to the dregs. We've gotten to the dregs, you could even say, of this Beach Boys journey. And there's gonna be a few more bright spots, certainly particularly in the Brian corpus. But for anyone who hasn't seen the episode description, we're talking about Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and David Marks salute nascar and Al Jardine live in Las Vegas today.

[Evan]

I can barely. Yeah, we. And. And we put those in one episode for. We made the choice not to have those be two separate episodes. Just want to be clear about that. I mean, there was a time, there was a moment when on our schedule, those were separate.

[Host 1]

That's right. That's right. It's a little. Kind of like the Wilson Phillips stuff.

[Evan]

And this is part of. Yeah, the conversation that I think we.

[Host 1]

Well, you've been saying that maybe we need to be moving along towards the conclusion of the series, which is in sight. Whether or not we want to be getting along as quickly as we are. It's coming soon, sooner rather than later. But I'm getting a little bit of do it again fatigue from your end of things these days.

[Evan]

Well, it's partly because other people, some people, like people close to me have said, really? You're still doing the Beach Boys? And I've said, yes, you've been talking.

[Host 1]

To talkhouse guys too much.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Host 1]

They're upset that we're not gonna get Josh Tillman numbers off of the Al Jardine Live in Las Vegas episode.

[Evan]

And my mom and my girlfriend and other people. It's just. It's not like we have our thing that we do on some level. I'm not, you know, I'm not saying. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that Jokerman abandon our thing that we do, which is to relentlessly pursue a completionist retrospective of a particular art artist's body of work. That's not. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do that. But I am saying maybe there's a way in which we can. We can be smart about how we do that.

[Host 1]

Sure. We can be discerning. I think we have, in general, said a lot of what there is to say about a lot of this stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can come up with on today's episode. At the same time, I guess I have a couple things to say along these lines. And it sort of dovetails with the subjects of today's episode, in a sense. So this is all maybe of a parcel. I kind of like when we get to the, like, the really, like, it's like a bag of shake at this point. Like, we're just smoking stems and seeds. Like, I kind of like that. I liked when we got to that on the Bob stuff, when we did, like, the back album rankings and stuff. I liked when we got to that. We got to that stage with the Lou and John stuff, too, where we were just doing, like. There were like six live albums. Like, remember Circus, the John Cale live album from, like 2008. Or Animal Serenade. Great record and, you know, fun. We did a whole episode with the guy from the Metal Machine Trio or something.

[Evan]

Like, I enjoy real bonus cd, bonus disc, bonus feature shit.

[Host 1]

Exactly. I enjoy when we get to these kind of heady days of the series when they're a little bit overripe, we're all kind of a little bit ready to break out and move on to our next subject. Who. We actually have two exciting subjects coming up.

[Evan]

Well, there's one that is. I'll. I'll just say now there's going to be one that was even a surprise to me, I guess, that we're going to do this thing. This thing that we're doing in the interim before our next major series. We're going to be doing a series of about a. What happens to be a shorter body of work. A few records.

[Host 1]

That's right. I was gonna say predominantly 21st century work. Exclusively 21st century work.

[Evan]

So, yeah, very new kind of territory for us. And I'll be very interested to see how that goes.

[Host 1]

Yes, let's let that sit there for the time being. Everyone can go to their keyboards and start to figure out what that might be. Anyways, I kind of enjoy the opportunity to sit back and take it easy. Cause these are lower pressure episodes. And oftentimes we get the opportunity to talk about many of our favorite ancillary subjects, whether they be beverages or Nintendo or Disneyland or. I love the 90s or whatever. And that, to me is often just as valuable as doing like the. The Pet Sounds episode with Michael Chabon. It's maybe not as valuable as that, but, you know, it's.

[Evan]

It's.

[Host 1]

I think it's a. It's a necessary note in the. In the complex aroma of. Of the Ode to Jokerman. And at the same time, I guess, specifically as it relates to this particular series, the Beach Boy series, which has been defined by Do It Again from the very beginning or from almost the very beginning. Like there's something kind of thematically resonant about, like they just keep doing the same guys do the same shit over and over again. And that. That forces us to do the same shit over and over. Like we're kind of like. Like, I don't know, becoming Mike Love ourselves by talking about all this shit and doing it again to the extent that we are. It's. It's fun. It's fun to me is what I would say. And so I sympathize and I generally agree with this. The view that we don't need to drag this on for as long as we could drag it on for. We're not going to get to the Blondie, Chaplin and the Flames episodes, folks. I'm sorry to say, but it's. I guess I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. How about that?

[Evan]

Yes. I mean, there is going to be, I think, at time in the near future with our. Our subjects coming up, that I'll just say that I don't think that a lot of the. There's not a lot of this. There's not a lot of this type of thing.

[Host 1]

It's true.

[Evan]

It's. We're. And I'm actually very excited for that because it feels like maybe we need to, you know, sharpen up and sort of like there is, you know, great fun to be had in, like, the rigorous, like the, the kinds of podcasts where you sit down knowing we're going to be there for, like, four hours and it feels like we haven't done that in a while. So I'm excited for that. But of course, yeah. Yeah. Maybe in the midst of that, there will be a point where, where we look back fondly upon the times when we could just sort of take honest pleasure. Like, take. Have an honest feeling, like I do today, of. I didn't need to spend that much time thinking about this.

[Host 1]

The people doing it didn't spend that much time. So it's only right that we don't either.