Teaser // The Beach Boys: STILL CRUISIN'

Summary

Jokermen Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Teaser // The Beach Boys: STILL CRUISIN'
Date: October 6, 2025
Host(s): Jokermen (Brian, Mike, Joe)
Theme: A biting, humorous discussion of songs from The Beach Boys’ “STILL CRUISIN'” album, focusing on “Island Girl” and “In My Car”—with detours into Jimmy Buffett territory and reflections on the late-’80s musical zeitgeist.

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Episode Overview

This teaser episode of Jokermen zeroes in on a pair of notorious tracks from The Beach Boys' late-period album STILL CRUISIN', namely “Island Girl” and “In My Car.” The hosts pull no punches as they skewer the songwriting, delivery, and general aesthetic of these songs, often invoking sharp humor and deep knowledge of Beach Boys lore. A Jimmy Buffett tangent explores influences and cultural cross-currents of the era, adding laughter and context to the critique.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Island Girl” Debacle (00:00–01:54)

• Immediate Reactions:
  • Joe: “I hate this song. I hate it. I hate it.” (00:20–00:23)
  • Mike and Joe analyze who might be responsible for the track’s vocal:
    • Joe: “I think that’s Al.” (00:27)
    • Mike: “It’s like island patois...sort of, like, Midwestern kind of slight twang to it that Al has.” (00:31–00:34)
• Stylistic Critique:
  • The hosts lampoon the song’s attempt at tropical flair, comparing it to a “lobotomized interpretation of Jimmy Buffett in 1989.” (Joe, 01:02)
  • Mike: “This is them doing just like, let's, let's just go straight for the jugular.” (01:12)
  • “They're trying to go lizard mode here and failing spectacularly.” (Joe, 01:19)

2. Jimmy Buffett Tangent—Contrasts and Parallels (01:19–02:46)

• Buffett Parallels:
  • The team notes how Jimmy Buffett’s “Carnival World” (from “Off to See the Lizard,” released in 1989) came out at the same time as “STILL CRUISIN’,” suggesting both tapped into a certain era’s tropical kitsch (01:32–01:47).
  • Mike describes Buffett’s album aesthetic: “All the colors look pre sun bleached, like, washed out.” (02:00)
• Future Podcast Series Idea:
  • Mike suggests a Buffett-themed summer series: “I want to do Buffett stuff later. I feel like that's a summer series.” (02:00)
  • Joe: “...he’s got a pretty robust discography, and I don’t know that we can do all of Buffett. So we might need to do, like, selected Buffett.” (02:25–02:37)
  • Jokermen joke about starting a Buffett podcast in 2037.

3. “In My Car”—Another Letdown (02:46–06:34)

• Acknowledging Brian Wilson’s Involvement:
  • Mike: “This is Brian's song on here...Brian and Eugene Landy, that is.” (03:27)
• Blunt Assessment:
  • Mike: “I do not like this song.” (03:35)
  • Joe: “I hate this song too.” (03:36)
  • Mike: “I find it unlistenable.” (03:38)
  • Joe: “You’re really in some tough, tough, tough times here with Island Girl into In My Car. This is just like some of the worst music the Beach Boys ever released.” (03:41)
• Listening to the Track & Dissecting the Lyrics:
  • Mike and Joe comment live as they play back parts of the song (03:54–04:51).
  • Joe: “It sucks. It sucks. I don't know what else, where else to go.” (04:51)
• Questionable Authorship—The Eugene Landy Factor:
  • Joe connects the awkward lyrics (“horses of gas and steel...fiberglass and chrome”) to Brian’s controversial therapist and collaborator, Eugene Landy:
    • Joe: “This to me screams Eugene Landy, primary author here. When I’m behind the wheel horses of gas and steel steel the highway is my home in fiberglass and chrome. Brian Wilson did not write that.” (05:04–05:52)
    • Mike: “No, that's garbage.” (05:52)
  • Both agree the lyrics lack Brian’s authentic touch and muse on Paley’s past comments about knowing a real Brian lyric (reference to previous podcast episode).
• Humorous Imagery:
  • Mike imagines a scenario: “That's what you say when you're, like, not Brian Wilson. You're pulling up beside a woman in your car and you forget that the window's not even rolled down, and you're just like, 'I'm captain of my destiny. Get in here.'” (06:15)

4. Overarching Sentiment

• Joe (final thought): “Jesus Christ. I mean, yeah. Shit. Just shit.” (06:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I hate this song. I hate it. I hate it.”
  — Joe (00:20–00:23)
• “They're trying to go lizard mode here and failing spectacularly.”
  — Joe (01:19)
• “All the colors look pre sun bleached, like, washed out. It's a great album, great vibe. I want to do Buffett stuff later. I feel like that's a summer series.”
  — Mike (02:00)
• “You’re really in some tough, tough, tough times here with Island Girl into In My Car. This is just like some of the worst music the Beach Boy's ever released.”
  — Joe (03:41)
• “This to me screams Eugene Landy, primary author here...Brian Wilson did not write that.”
  — Joe (05:04–05:52)
• “That's what you say when you're, like, not Brian Wilson. You're pulling up beside a woman in your car and you forget that the window's not even rolled down, and you're just like, 'I'm captain of my destiny. Get in here.'”
  — Mike (06:15)
• “Jesus Christ. I mean, yeah. Shit. Just shit.”
  — Joe (06:34)

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Episode Flow with Timestamps

• 00:00–01:54: Savage takedown of “Island Girl,” discussion of vocals and style.
• 01:19–02:46: Jimmy Buffett comparisons and possibility of future podcast series.
• 02:46–06:34: Dismantling “In My Car”: analysis, listening, and lyric breakdowns, leading to a conclusion of mutual disgust with this Beach Boys’ period.

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Conclusion

This teaser is a candid, irreverent exploration of a low point in The Beach Boys’ catalog. Unfiltered critique, sharp wit, and deep insight into music history drive the conversation, with hosts openly grappling with the disappointment of “Island Girl” and “In My Car.” The episode is peppered with inside jokes, reference points for diehard fans (e.g., Eugene Landy’s infamous influence), and the sense that the Jokermen won’t stop loving Brian and the band—even when the music is “just shit.”

Transcript

[Brian]

I like her plenty.

[Mike]

This song's not very good. She kind of sassy. That's the, that's the thing about this song.

[Joe]

I, I, I hate this song.

[Mike]

She kind.

[Joe]

I hate it. I hate it.

[Mike]

Who's responsible?

[Joe]

I think that's Al.

[Mike]

She kinda sat.

[Joe]

She kinda sat. Yeah. Cause it's got that kinda like.

[Mike]

It's like island patois.

[Joe]

No, but it's also got the sort of, like, Midwestern kind of slight twang to it that Al has.

[Mike]

But I think that it's sort of like, without just short of going like, ya, man. He's kind of doing that.

[Joe]

This song is very bad. I don't know what else to say. Um, I hate it.

[Mike]

That's all right. That's okay.

[Joe]

But this, I mean, this clear, like, this is very clearly like them trying to do a lobotomized interpretation of Jimmy Buffett in 1989.

[Mike]

That is. Yeah. This is them doing just like, let's, let's just go straight for the jugular.

[Joe]

They're trying to go lizard mode here and failing spectacularly.

[Mike]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joe]

Although now, I guess, I guess when, when did. We're off to see the lizard come out?

[Mike]

Yeah, no, that was like 92 or maybe or something.

[Joe]

Yeah. A couple years after this.

[Mike]

I don't know. Maybe it was right around this time. There's a song I like, Carnival World.

[Joe]

We're off to see.

[Mike]

When was Carnival World by Jimmy Buffett?

[Joe]

Oh, you know what?

[Mike]

89.

[Joe]

1989. Look at that.

[Mike]

Hey, something's in the air. I love the COVID of that. Look at that. He's wearing a kangal with a gecko on it.

[Joe]

And it's got, like, the sort of pink and aqua, like, word mark down there. That looks like a sobe can.

[Mike]

The whole thing on it looks like all the colors look pre sun bleached, like, washed out. It's like, it's a great album, great vibe. I want to do Buffett stuff later. I feel like that's a summer series.

[Joe]

I, I could, I could see that. I think. I mean, now that we've done Joel Buffett, there's, you know, I would love to do. Absolutely.

[Mike]

Do Buffett podcast.

[Joe]

I think the challenge with Buffett is, like, he's got a. He's got a pretty robust discography, and I don't know that we can do all of Buffett. So we might need to do, like, selected Buffett.

[Mike]

Yeah. Or just a certain. We'll do it in pieces, chunks, you know? Yeah.

[Joe]

Well, stay tuned. Coming 2037 on Jokerman, Jimmy Buffett Every.

[Brian]

Now and then I get disagree When I married a company.

[Joe]

She says I.

[Brian]

Greet that I'm also very lazy I know she loves me I she make me happy I kind of sassy I show me the way.

[Joe]

In my car Here's a new subject. Yeah, we're in a car.

[Mike]

I've seen people note. This is Brian's song on here. That's right, Brian and Eugene Landy, that is.

[Joe]

There he is. He's back.

[Mike]

I do not like this song.

[Joe]

I hate this song too.

[Mike]

I find it unlistenable. I don't like this song at all.

[Joe]

You're really in some tough, tough, tough times here with Island Girl into In My Car. This is just like some of the worst music the Beach Boy's ever released. There's not really a way to zag on that.

[Mike]

Yeah, no. In my car. Let me just put it on again really quick. This one's just.

[Brian]

It's annoying when I'm behind the doobie.

[Joe]

Doo what is the dance and me.

[Brian]

The highway in my home we do it father fast and throne let's take a ride you can't forget Come on freely ride with me in my car I can't feel like destiny in my car we take the cruise with me Come over drive and we arrive Feel alive.

[Joe]

Sucks. It sucks. I don't know what else, where else to go.

[Mike]

It sounds like a song that they would have written for like Grease 2. And then be like, this is not good enough for good for this.

[Joe]

No, I do think, you know, so it is. Or it was initially a co write between Brian and Landy. I don't know if Landy's credits have been stricken from this the way that they've been stricken from the, you know, Brian Wilson solo album. But I do think. Remember when we talked on the Brian solo album episode, Andy Paley said something like, I can tell a Brian Wilson lyric. I can tell when he's writing them and when it's a good one and when he's singing other lyrics and they come off kind of cludgy. I can tell Brian didn't really write that. This to me screams Eugene Landy, primary author here. When I'm behind the wheel horses of gas and steel steel the highway is my home in fiberglass and chrome. Brian Wilson did not write that.

[Mike]

No, that's garbage.

[Joe]

Get out of here.

[Mike]

And if he did, I'm willing to say it's not good. I mean, it's just. I don't believe he did though. Like, that just doesn't. That feels like someone who doesn't do this.

[Joe]

Doing it in my car. I'm captain of my destiny in my car Pretty babe, come cruise with me.

[Mike]

That'S what you say when you're, like, not Brian Wilson. You're pulling up beside a woman in your car and you forget that the window's not even rolled down, and you're just like, I'm captain of my destiny. Get in here.

[Joe]

Jesus Christ. I mean, yeah. Shit. Just shit.