The Beach Boys: THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO with Jason Woodbury

Summary

Jokermen Podcast: The Beach Boys – THAT’S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO (with Jason Woodbury)

Release Date: March 23, 2026
Host(s): Ian, Evan
Guest: Jason Woodbury
Episode Focus: The final studio album by The Beach Boys, That's Why God Made the Radio (2012)

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Overview

This episode marks a bittersweet milestone: the last Beach Boys studio album reviewed by the Jokermen crew. Joined by third-time guest Jason Woodbury, the hosts reflect on the 2012 reunion record, That’s Why God Made the Radio. The conversation covers the album's context, the band's 50th anniversary, its shifting creative dynamics, standout tracks, production quirks, and where the album fits—triumphs, failings, and all—into the band's sprawling legacy.

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Key Themes and Discussion Points

1. Beach Boys in 2012: Context and Reunion (02:18–04:26)

• That’s Why God Made the Radio emerges as a long-awaited reunion, fueled by both nostalgia and business interests during the band's 50th anniversary.
• Jason shares his experience covering the band for the Phoenix New Times during this era, interviewing Brian and Al, and witnessing the group’s celebratory concert at Grand Canyon University.
• Al Jardine shines as an enthusiastic interviewee; Brian seems less engaged but is nonetheless revered for his legacy.

"He was excited that I was asking him about the '70s stuff...after we hung up, he called my office just to chat more." — Jason (04:26)

2. From Brian Solo to Band Effort: The Album's Origins (07:22–10:18)

• The record began as a potential Brian Wilson solo project before morphing into a Beach Boys album as the reunion was brokered.
• The collaborative territory was complicated due to years of lawsuits (often involving Mike Love), requiring considerable fence-mending.

"At a certain point, someone realized, like, there's some music here...but if we can get a whole big team of people involved...that's gonna make a lot more sense." — Ian (09:17)

3. Production and Personnel (12:01–14:27)

• The album features all surviving core Beach Boys (Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce, David Marks) with heavy involvement from Brian’s touring band.
• Joe Thomas is the central—if divisive—producer, humorously dubbed “Buddy Love.” His glossy, of-the-moment style permeates the record.

"Buddy Love, that wrestling name for producer Joe Thomas, who there is no information about..." — Evan (12:19)

4. Mike Love’s Role (14:27–17:56)

• 'Cool Mike' is a mythic concept on the podcast; he’s seen as business-minded but sounded authentically excited at the 50th anniversary show.
• Despite the momentary truce, the reunion quickly dissolved, and the trajectories diverged with more solo/side projects for both Brian and Mike.

"Mike seemed...a lot less like, score settley and weird. He seemed really psyched, and he sounded really, really good, honestly." — Jason (15:03)

5. Album Artwork & Title Debate (18:50–21:40)

• The panel pans the album cover as bland and inoffensive, reminiscent of 2012 indie aesthetics (“Zooey Deschanel, She & Him flavor”).
• Discussion surrounds Brian’s wish to avoid a finality-tinged title (“Summer’s Gone”), settling on the more upbeat, semi-ironic “That’s Why God Made the Radio.”

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Track-by-Track: Notable Segments, Insights & Quotes

Side A

"Think About The Days" (21:40–26:25)

• A short, somber, almost acapella (with piano)—compared to a liturgical prelude or a eulogy.
• Sets a mood that isn’t fully maintained, but is praised for its spirit.

"It has a kind of gravity to it that kind of takes you off guard...it's like the beginning of The Irishman." — Evan (25:28)

"That’s Why God Made the Radio" (28:26–33:25)

• Title track analyzed as both spiritual and sentimental; likened to "God Gave Rock and Roll to You".
• Emphasis on the mystic role of radio in Brian’s and broader rock mythology.

"If you believe—and I do—that when Brian said he was trying to make a teenage symphony to God with Pet Sounds, he really thinks the universe gives him songs." — Jason (29:27)

"Isn’t It Time" (35:26–42:15)

• Criticized for 2012 “she & him/Lumineers” musical tropes (ukulele, stomp-clap).
• The chorus deemed catchy; lyrics skirt nostalgia without heavy-handedness.
• Mike Love’s vocal is up-close and “right in your ear.”

"There's a community theater element to the way this song sounds." — Ian (36:16)

"Spring Vacation" (44:13–47:29)

• Panned as a forced, lyric-by-numbers reference to “Good Vibrations.”
• Over-produced, extremely “2012” in sound, with heavy vocal processing.

"This whole song clearly is just built around the fact that you can rhyme vibrations and vacation—good vibrations, spring vacation.” — Ian (44:52)

"The Private Life of Bill and Sue" (48:19–53:12)

• Surreally about a reality TV couple—compared to “Black Diamond Bay.”
• Goofy, but defended as classic “weird Beach Boys album track.”

"A weird song is part of the Beach Boys formality." — Ian (50:24)

"Shelter" (53:27–56:46)

• Chorus quotes Dylan (“shelter from the storm”); musical influence from The Ronettes.
• Middle-of-the-road, but with strong falsetto harmonies from Jeff Foskett.
• Lyrics include comfy Brian domesticity: “Summertime, take a few calls and make a little love.”

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Side B

"Daybreak Over the Ocean" (59:02–62:28)

• Pure Mike Love composition; reminiscent of “Kokomo” era.
• Competently executed, but evokes little enthusiasm.

"Beaches in Mind" (63:31–66:09)

• Title ridiculed (“When was the last time any of these fucking guys went to the beach?”), but ultimately harmless fluff.

"Strange World" (67:11–70:42)

• Kicks off a four-song “Life Suite,” shifting to thematic reflection and California mythology.
• Has a “musical theater” quality but ends with an intriguing, haunting passage.

"This is where the record starts to get it...maybe the Life sessions are a more cohesive thing, you know? Now we're getting back into the promise of the first song." — Jason (69:46)

"From There to Back Again" (72:09–75:41)

• Al Jardine’s vocal spot; a highlight, lushly orchestrated, and compared to Pet Sounds.
• The album’s late peak.

"Al sounds fantastic...this song is just like, very, very pretty. And it's...really nicely written. Very poetic." — Jason (72:53)

"Pacific Coast Highway" & "Summer’s Gone" (80:00–86:06)

• A suite-like, introspective, and mournful conclusion.
• The hosts wish the album had ended with more uplift (“something like One Kind of Love” from Brian’s later work).
• Final moments (wind chimes, wave sounds) considered on-the-nose but emotionally resonant.

"It is actually. It's really sad. I mean, I think it's honest, too, and I appreciate that about it." — Jason (83:10)

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On the Album’s Strengths, Flaws, and Legacy

• The album is viewed as a “split-the-difference” project: part cash-in for reunion crowds, part attempt at poignant coda. This duality leaves it uneven but not without flashes of beauty.
• The “Life Suite” final tracks could have been a grand artistic statement if fully realized, but compromise and generic tracks dilute the effect.
• It is, in the hosts’ view, quintessential late-period Beach Boys: flashes of genius, baffling mediocrity, moments of heartfelt sadness, all tangled together.

“It is a noble at times attempt and a crass one at others. And like you said, really can’t get more Beach Boys than that.” — Jason (81:32)

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Memorable Quotes

• On reunion logistics:
  "Someone did need to, you know, be the bigger man and say, 'Hey, how can we work together again?'...For that sake alone, we can work together." — Ian (13:30)

• On Mike Love’s attitude:
  "Mike will push aside a lot if the opportunity is lucrative enough." — Jason (14:27)

• On production sound:
  "Joe Thomas...just a fucking schlockmeister cornball supreme." — Ian (41:29)

• On thematic duality:
  "The story of this album, which is the story of the Beach Boys' life in miniature...can we do both?" — Ian (69:46)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:18 — 2012 context, interviews, reunion stories
• 07:22 — Album origins, internal band politics
• 14:27 — The Mike Love factor and band reconciliation
• 18:50–21:40 — Artwork and album title discussion
• 21:40–26:25 — "Think About The Days" review
• 28:26 — "That’s Why God Made the Radio"
• 35:26 — "Isn’t It Time" and modern production gripes
• 44:13 — "Spring Vacation" and album’s middle doldrums
• 48:19 — "Bill & Sue", weirdness as tradition
• 53:27–56:46 — "Shelter" and late-era Brian vocals
• 63:31–66:09 — "Beaches in Mind" and the 'beach' mythology
• 67:11 — Final "Life Suite" and melancholic coda
• 72:09–75:41 — Al Jardine’s “From There to Back Again”
• 80:00–86:06 — Final three tracks and the album’s ending

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Conclusion & Ratings

• The episode closes with mutual appreciation, both for the discography and the critical company, while rendering That’s Why God Made the Radio a "one-star out of three" effort—buoyed, as ever, by the collective magic of the Beach Boys.

"Pretty good. But we give, I think, the Beach Boys discography three stars." — Evan (93:04)

"Three stars. Yeah. Easily agreed. One of the great discographies, one of the great collections of records of all time. And hats off to them all. Nobody like the Beach Boys." — Jason (93:13)

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In Summary

This episode is an affectionate, wry, and nuanced send-off to The Beach Boys’ studio albums—a microcosm of their legacy: high art, commercial compromise, and deep-seated emotion swirled together on one final ride.

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For listeners and Beach Boys fans alike, this discussion is both closure and invitation—an argument for giving even the odd corners of the Beach Boys’ catalogue their long day in the sun.

Transcript

[Ian]

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[Jason Woodbury]

This could be considered a track.

[Evan]

Not really, though.

[Ian]

We don't want to do that.

[Evan]

This is a little intro, you know, Brian.

[Jason Woodbury]

All right, here we go. Countdown time. One, two, three, go. That's what got me.

[Evan]

That's what got me that's why. Welcome one and all, welcome Beach Boys, Beach Girls, to the final Beach Boys album episode from Jokerman Beach Boys podcast. I'm Evan.

[Ian]

I'm Ian. And here making his closing the trilogy of Beach Boys series appearances with us. Can't think of anyone better to be cruising down Hawthorne Boulevard with Jason Woodbury. Jason, welcome back.

[Jason Woodbury]

Hey, thank you guys so much for having me. It's always so fun talking about the Beach Boys with you and emotional. This is the end. This is the end of the Beach Boys discography. I mean, as far as boy studio stuff, right?

[Ian]

As far as studio albums go. Yeah, gee, it's not. It's not quite the end of our series. Although we're close at this point, I think we're going to be about a month out from the end by the time this episode posts. So it's with a heavy heart that we begin to bid adieu to the boys of the beach and this. And, well, for me at least. I don't know if it's a heavy heart for Evan, to be honest.

[Evan]

It's, you know, it's with my whole heart, I'll say.

[Jason Woodbury]

Of course.

[Evan]

My heart is involved deeply.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ian]

Well, yeah, it's. That's why God made the radio 2012, the much lauded, much ballyhooed Beach Boys reunion record. They're back. And guess what? They're gonna do it again. I think we've heard that one once before. You mentioned. I think that you were. You were tuned in. I think you were doing some interviews with some of the felons around this time. Do you have any stories just of the heady days of 2012 to relay?

[Jason Woodbury]

It was a different time, boys.

[Ian]

It was a different time.

[Jason Woodbury]

It was. I was working as the music editor at the Alt Weekly in Phoenix, Arizona. Which was, weirdly, for the Beach Boys 50th anniversary. It was kind of a nexus point because they were doing this show at a school here called Grand Canyon University. It's GC gcu And it's like a privately owned Christian college. But they were. They were doing, like, a big show there. And they were filming it. And it was going to come out as like, a PBS special. And all. All of that. Did it happen?

[Evan]

Wow.

[Jason Woodbury]

So they were kind of like that. Plus, that's why God made the radio. Being, like, a going concern as far as a new Beach Boys release. They were really eager to get, like, people talking about it. And so they gave me a lot of. They. I got an interview with Brian and an interview with Al. And then got to go see the show. Which was, you know, all the original people kind of back together. And this album isn't really that.

[Ian]

No.

[Jason Woodbury]

So my experience with it was, like, kind of listening to this record. Listening to it certainly, you know, all the way through and giving it a fair shake and stuff. But kind of being like, all right, we'll talk a little bit about that. We'll talk a lot about, you know, the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys. But looking back, I mean, I was sort of surprised to revisit the stuff that I wrote at that time and recognize that. That Al especially, which, you guys know, obviously he's a great interview. He's like, very, very funny, very cool guy.

[Ian]

Such a great personality. You know, happy to just go along with you. Fantastic guy.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. And he was excited when I talked to him because, you know, 2012. I don't know exactly how this falls in the sort of Beach Boys retconning of, like, stuff. Cause, you know, it's like, a lot of the stuff wasn't considered cool for a super long time. And some of it came back into vogue. But I feel like at that time, I was really interested in asking him about the sort of shaggy Beach Boys of the early 70s. Like, the stuff we talked about. Carl. Carl and the passions kind of side of things. Because I think Al, he emerges as one of the strongest parts of that stuff. So I was excited to go back with him. And the cool thing about that's why God made the radio. Which, you know, obviously there's a lot to get into. But what I would say is I like that it ends with a sort of close to the end. There's like an Al centric moment that is I think the highlight of the record or one of the highlights. And so I was. I was especially excited. He was especially excited to talk. After we hung up, he called my office. He. He, like, called again. And I was like, hey, hi, Al. How are you? And he was like, you know, hey. My wife was asking because she used to live in Scottsdale, and she said that the Phoenix New Times, that's the newspaper I was the. That I was writing for. She said that, like, you could. You could buy drugs. There would be ads to buy drugs in the back. Is that the same paper? And I was like, I probably. I. I don't.

[Ian]

The drug ads probably not still there in 2012.

[Evan]

No.

[Jason Woodbury]

Other stuff was. And there's. That's a terrible, controversial saga that we could go down some other time completely unrelated to the Beach Boys, just related to the alt weekly sort of thing. But anyway, yeah, and I just thought that was so funny. And he was just really like, oh, that's so cool. You know, because he was excited that people that I was asking him about the 70s stuff. And anyway, so that was my thing. And then Brian was like, also an interview. Um, Brian, you know, he didn't have any. He was just, like, kind of on autopilot a little bit when I spoke to him that. That time.

[Ian]

That's. And that's a different interview than the one where you literally drove from Arizona to Los Angeles to interview him in person and then got stood up as related on a previous.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, this was just. This is intended as a phone call, and the phone call took place, and it was. It was before that, so. Yeah, it was, but he was. I mean, he was. I don't want to, like, diminish it. Obviously, it's Brian Wilson, so I appreciate his time a lot, but, you know, he was just sort of like. I think I said something like, hey, I just wanted to let you know that, you know, till I die. I think that's one of the most spiritual and powerful songs, like, ever written. And he was like, yeah, it's pretty good, you know, and that was just

[Ian]

sort of like the way that sounds like Brian.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. You know, he's not wrong. No, he's not wrong. He's not wrong. And so. But it was cool to talk with him, you know? Know. And this record, like I said, it's a. It's kind of a weird one.

[Ian]

It is kind of a weird one.

[Evan]

Would you believe it? A weird Beach Boys record.

[Jason Woodbury]

I know. Even in 2012. But, yeah, I mean, because I don't. I'm sure you guys have a lot more of the background, as I sort of understand it. It was. Maybe it was going to be a Brian solo record. And it turned into a Beach Boys record or something once they got back together and the 50th anniversary thing was lined up, you know, I don't know.

[Ian]

Yeah, no, I think that basically. Basically was it. And this has been a long running thread in the Beach Boy, or I guess in the Brian solo chapter of this story for us is Brian doing work, writing songs, demoing songs, sketching out songs, making plans for records, whatever. And, like, sometimes maybe this stuff is Brian Wilson stuff, and then other times maybe this is gonna be Beach Boys stuff. And maybe one day a given song is a Brian Wilson song, and then the next day, all of a sudden it's a Beach Boys song, vice versa. There's a lot of fluidity there. And I think that explains some of the. I don't know, maybe inconsistency of the Brian Wilson solo output. Certainly, you know, you think about a record like Imagination, right, which had had its roots in the Andy Paley stuff. And then some of that was gonna be Beach Boy stuff. And then it became not Beach Boy stuff, but it also wasn't Andy Paley stuff anymore. It's just, you know, he's a little bit all over the place. And. And so by this point, and this actually extends to another line of conversation that we've hit a couple times recently on our most recent Brian Wilson episodes that Aaron brought up, Aaron Olsen brought up when we were talking about the Gershwin album, which was like, what. What is it that Brian can do at this point? Because you think about Orange crate art from 2008 had been a big team effort between Brian and the band and Van Dyke. But then the Gershwin album and the Disney album, there's no real original Brian Wilson compositions on there. He finished a couple of those Gershwin songs with some edits or additions to a couple unfinished lyrics. But in general, it's just him doing covers. And so Brian, as a forceful solo artist with a vision, with a songwriting capability, is maybe. Maybe isn't quite there to the extent that he once was. And so I think that's why this ends up getting turned into this final Beach Boys record. And this Beach Boys reunion is because at a certain point, someone realized, like, there's some music here, there are some songs, but if we can get a whole big team of people involved to help get it across the finish line, that's gonna make a lot more sense. And then on top of that, you also get all of the extraordinary money making opportunities of just the Beach Boys 50th anniversary celebration. And so I think the. And the tour, you know, they kind of come along together at the same time and then this ends up being the product for better or for worse.

[Jason Woodbury]

I mean, obviously they've got beaches in mind. And so when the beaches, you know,

[Evan]

that phrase that we.

[Jason Woodbury]

That common.

[Evan]

That is one of those phrases rolls

[Jason Woodbury]

right off the tongue, it's not kind of hard. You don't have to think about it before you say it. Beaches in mind.

[Ian]

Beaches in mind.

[Evan]

Peaches and. Peaches and cream. Beach.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. But if you've got beaches on the mind, there's a musical group for you.

[Ian]

That's right.

[Jason Woodbury]

That is well suited to kind of covering that sort of thing. And it's the Beach Boys. And this is all the Beach Boys, not just Mike Love and Uncle Jesse. This is Brian and you know, Al,

[Evan]

it's not just Mike Love and Uncle

[Ian]

Jesse, it's Bruce and it's also David Marks, can't forget him. Who's brought back into the fold officially. Last seen, of course, on Bruce Johnston and David Marks Salute NASCAR landmark release.

[Evan]

So you're unfamiliar with that. Dear Listener. That is a. A CD that was available if you bought a certain amount of gasoline at 76 gas stations in 1993.

[Ian]

Eight.

[Evan]

Eight.

[Jason Woodbury]

I love it. Yeah, yeah, 98.

[Evan]

Sorry, sorry for missing. Misrepresented the date.

[Ian]

That's a rookie mistake.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ian]

Yes. He's back in the fold because of course, dear Carl, dear Dennis are no longer around. So two of the really five original, real classic Beach Boys are no longer with us. So in order to flesh it out with a full quintet, we have Bruce, who of course has been part of the gang for quite some time. And then David Marks makes five.

[Jason Woodbury]

So. Yeah. And then a lot of other collaborators.

[Ian]

Yes. And then also basically entire Brian Wilson band. If you look at the credits, I mean. And so that's. I guess that's the thing. So this record, just to get a little more specific. And I teased this a little bit on a previous episode. I know you're just champing at the bit to talk about this guy again. Evan, our old friend Joe Thomas, Buddy Love.

[Evan]

Buddy Love is Buddy Love. I feel like I have to just like sort of insert these little explanations, these footnotes. Buddy Love, that wrestling name for producer Joe Thomas, who there is no information about the apocryphal name.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right.

[Ian]

That like, maybe he never actually even went by the name Buddy Love, but

[Evan]

someone he possibly was never a Wrestler. It's not very clear, but Buddy Love himself.

[Ian]

Yeah, that's right. You know, there had been some ideas, I think, in the 2008 range following orange Crate or Not Orange Crate or that Lucky Old Son about, hey, what's the next Brian solo album gonna be? You know, that isn't him just doing covers. The Disney Corporation and I guess, you know, he got back together with Joe and there were a bunch of song scraps and demos, as there often were from the Brian Wilson sessions, and said, hey, there's a bunch of songs. What can we do with these? And then it became someone's bright idea to say, hey, this is a Beach Boys project instead of just a Brian Wilson project. And to his credit, to all of their credit, like, I think that did involve, like, some mending of the fences, you know, because we haven't talked about it so much, but, like, there had been a whole series of fucking lawsuits throughout the early 2000s between Mike and Brian, between Mike and Al, between just, you know, everyone. Mike often was involved, shockingly. And so at a certain point, someone did need to, you know, be the bigger man and say, hey, you know, how can we work together again? How can we do it? If we're gonna do it, we gotta be able to shake hands and look each other in the ey. Brian and Mike, I think, did sit down and to whatever extent was possible, were able to sort of put things in the past, water under the bridge, and move forward as a team. I don't know how thrilled everyone necessarily was to be doing this reunion, but I think at the end of the day, everyone realized, like, there's money to be made here. And so for that sake alone, we can work together.

[Jason Woodbury]

Mike Love, there's a lot that he'll push aside if the, you know, opportunity is lucrative enough. I will say when they did Grand Canyon University Arena, Mike was, you know, like, I've seen Brian Wilson a few other times, you know, and his band is awesome. But to really see, like, you know, most original Beach Boys do that stuff was, you know, at moments, really, really cool. And Mike seemed about, like, you know, cool. Mike is sort of a mythic notion on this podcast.

[Ian]

The mythic.

[Jason Woodbury]

The mythic legendary.

[Evan]

May.

[Jason Woodbury]

I won't.

[Evan]

Apocryphal.

[Jason Woodbury]

I won't say that cool. Mike was, like, in attendance, but chill. Mike was like. He didn't see. He seemed a lot less like, score settley and weird. I mean, that's a part of what makes him so kind of like the villain figure, obviously. He was really. He seemed really psyched, and he sounded really, really good, honestly. So, you know, it seemed like. I think he was genuinely pretty pumped to be back in the crew. But as I understand it, of course, Mike was like, I wouldn't. I didn't want to do the record that way. I wanted to, like, write with Brian. And it's like, yeah, sure did.

[Evan]

Well, that's like, Mike, in optimal conditions, where it's like, you're making a Beach Boys thing.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Evan]

There's no weird stuff. It's songs that involve sun, sand, Right. Cars, some combination beaches in mind, and then hundreds of thousands of dollars as well. And so he's happy. He's like. He's got his favorite music on. There's the air conditioning on. You know, he's. He's good. He's okay.

[Ian]

He's got the shirt on with the cuffs turned up with the. The paisley print on the inside and the hat pulled down. He's. He's. He is being a light.

[Evan]

That's what he always wanted. I mean, they would have just kept doing this, right? Forever, had this never, you know, if this was always the move, like, sure, get David Marks in here, whatever. As long as we're doing songs about surf, sun and sand, then he's easy.

[Ian]

He's settled.

[Evan]

He slapped that big logo on it. He's a happy camper on the beach.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, he definitely. He definitely, definitely was. But then he. I don't think it lasted that much. It didn't last very long because pretty much right after this, they went their separate ways again. And I'm sure that that last Brian Wilson solo album, no Peer Pressure, I'm sure that that was. They probably wanted that to be a Beach Boys record too, you know, but just by the way things shook out in the internal organization, I think this is. It's kind of crazy that this is. I mean, I wouldn't put it past Mike Love. I'm sure he has put out stuff, studio stuff, but maybe not as.

[Ian]

Oh, he's put out. He's put out quite a bit of studio stuff over the last. Right.

[Evan]

And we've talked about. Not quite all of it, but, I mean, we got.

[Ian]

We're gonna be talking about some of it.

[Evan]

Wait, wait, there's more.

[Ian]

There's quite a bit more. Unleash the Love. We're gonna put it all into one episode. One, like, final Power Hour. Unleash the love. 12 sides of summer. And then, of course, 2023's Mike Love, not war.

[Evan]

12 sides of summer. Am I to understand that that's A six disc.

[Jason Woodbury]

That's right.

[Ian]

Six lp.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. I mean, that guy. I mean, we've talked about the TM thing. He's. I mean, he's prolific. He's got. He's putting output. He's way tapped in.

[Ian]

It is. Look, listen, whether it's the TM thing or something else or both or none of the above, it's all worked out for him somehow. He is the last boy standing. Especially with Bruce Johnston's ejection from the band most recently. The Beach Boys themselves will be out on the road this summer in America as they have been for every. Every summer for the last 60 something years. And that means Mike Love is up there singing.

[Jason Woodbury]

I wonder if a single song from that's why God Made the Radio makes it into that set. Because at the 50th anniversary, they only did two. So, I mean, it was not a. It was not a pact. They were not leaning heavily.

[Ian]

Maybe you'll bring. Maybe he'll, you know, bring. Bring one of the old deep cuts, one of these old chestnuts. The Private Life of Bill and Sue.

[Jason Woodbury]

Oh, my God. The Private Life of Bill and Sue.

[Ian]

How about the COVID of this album? I. I can't say I like it that much.

[Jason Woodbury]

They had.

[Evan]

It's okay. It's like. Well, what. Let's describe it. It's.

[Ian]

Yeah, why don't you describe it for us?

[Evan]

Stylized waves.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Ian]

Okay. And then, of course, the classic Beach Boys logo. The classic Beach Boys logo is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting on the COVID of this album.

[Evan]

The art style is sort of like, what, like Eric Carle kind of like, you know, it has that very 2012, like, put a bird on it, like.

[Ian]

Exactly. It's got like a Zooey Deschanel, she and him type flavor.

[Jason Woodbury]

I was gonna say. Somehow this seems she and him to me for sure.

[Evan]

Yeah.

[Ian]

Yes, exactly.

[Evan]

It's of that il when, like, everything was kind of collage y twirly, mustache, suspenders.

[Jason Woodbury]

But the way that the album title looks on the album cover under the Beach Boys look, it's really not. That looks bad to me.

[Ian]

Yeah, they just like. Someone just took a text box and then threw, like, Times New Roman in caps and just typed that out a little bit. Someone put this together in about three minutes.

[Evan]

That's why God made the radio, you mean? Yeah, it's not Times New Roman.

[Ian]

It's a seraph of some sort. It's not too. Nothing too fancy.

[Evan]

I think this is not the worst case scenario for this cover. I think it's fine in terms of it's pretty inoffensive.

[Ian]

It's just kind of bleh, you know. And interestingly, we could talk about this more later on in the episode, but the last song on this record, the last Beach Boys song on the last Beach Boys record, Summer's Gone was supposed to be the title of this album, which would have been the perfect title for the last Beach Boys album, You know, the reunion album, One Last Ride, Summer's Gone. That is perfect. And then somewhere along the way, Brian decided, you know, I think I want to do a beat. Another Beach Boys record after this one. So let's not call it Summer's Gone. Let's call it that's why God Made the Radio. And then, of course, he didn't do

[Jason Woodbury]

that Beach Boys record.

[Evan]

Well, Summer's Gone is a little bit like dreary.

[Jason Woodbury]

Well, the second half of this record is really focused on the passing of time. Immortality.

[Ian]

That's right.

[Evan]

And the first moments, too. I mean, I'm just saying in terms of if you want to sell the thing.

[Jason Woodbury]

No, I agree that it's like Summer's Gone isn't screaming. No, that's sort of like, you're gonna die, we're gonna die. We're all going to die. Yeah. And that's. That's obviously Brian is doing that, but that's why God Made the Radio is not. I love it as the title of that song. I don't know that it needs to be the title of the album, especially an album that I'm sure received little to no radio play. But. Yeah, I mean, I don't. Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe. Isn't it. Time blew up the charts and I

[Ian]

forgot about Shelter was. Was a major hit on kroq. Shelter, Come on. All right, well, let's. I guess on that note, let's. Let's get to that's why God Made the Radio by the Beach Boys, Which starts on a very strong foot to me. Think about the days. This 92nd instrumental. I don't even know if there's instruments actually. Is it just. Maybe there are instruments, but mostly acapella arrangement that has shades of our prayer from the beginning of Smile. This is beautiful. This is. This is fantastic. And I guess that's my initial comment. And regardless of what I might think of the quality of any one of the given songs on this album. And it is, you know, some choppy waters. Pun, semi intended. Just the fact that all of the Beach Boys are together again, singing again, doing Beach Boys harmonizing, that's like. I'M a sucker for that. And so like on a very basic surface level, you got all these guys together after so long and they can still mostly do their thing with a little bit of technological enhancement, which I'm sure we'll have some stuff to say about that at some point. I don't know. That works for me. You know, it's just. It's a cheap. Maybe not cheap, but it's an easy move. But it's an effective one.

[Evan]

I don't know that it's an easy move because I was taken aback that they chose to start it this way. I think it's one of the better things about the album there is. It's not totally acapella, by the way. There's some piano, but yeah, it is somber.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Evan]

You know, it's not easy in the sense that like what you might expect a worst case scenario being is like the kind of thing like what's the one where they're in the snow globe or the terrarium where that record more or less feels like it is totally averse to getting any kind of emotional way about anything. And this really hits you with it right off the bat. Like it's actually quite a choice to make the first thing you hear on this record be this melancholic and kind of almost like a eulogy or like a, like funereal.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, in a way I would definitely say that there's like a liturgical quality to it. It kind of. It kind of reminds me of like Judy Sill has certain moments also that are like these kind of harmony baroque, you know, like Bach via, you know, pop music stuff. And I think that like the, the choice to start it with this and obviously, you know, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of reverb and a lot of echo and it's like a very, you know, they're. They're treating the voices. It's not a raw harmonies sort of situation, but those harmonies are there. And I, I'm a mark for it too, dude, because it like this. I think it's. It's awesome this. For it to start like this. It's a really awesome thing. And you know, obviously we're going to talk about all these different songs, but I think I hear like a record like this in this record. If you excised a few weird attempts at like hitting the modern zeitgeist or whatever was going on, you know what I mean? And this is sort of like shows you like. Oh yeah, that's the. That's the kind of Possible sound of this record is like a little more somber, a little more Summer's gone. I guess. You know what I mean?

[Ian]

Absolutely.

[Evan]

A little more. Not even the sound necessarily, but the. The concept. Yeah, exactly the way that they. Liturgical is a great way to put it. Because that is the feeling. And it's. I'll just spoil it, I guess. Not really delivered on. I think we can agree, like, for the most part, not totally, but the. The feeling that this gives at the beginning is kind of like. It's called Think about the Days. And it's like it. It kind of gives like. It's like the beginning of the Irishman. Like, it's like when you're, like going through the old age home. Like it's the cocoa cabana. And only finding yourself at like, you know, this sort of desiccated old man who's about to recount the days.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Evan]

It has a kind of gravity to it that kind of takes you off guard from there, it sort of moves in other directions.

[Ian]

But there is something that is appropriate about that for a Beach Boys album. What has been one of the biggest themes throughout this entire saga that we've been recounting is the war, the conflict, the tension between the artistic. If you want to be simplistic and boil it down, the Brian side versus the commercial mike side. And so I think it's perfectly appropriate and maybe could not have been scripted better for a reunion album. The 50th anniversary, the last Beach Boys album to be yet another collection of songs. Some of which are this artistic, emotional, melancholy type sound. And others of which are the exact antithesis of that. Are the do it again things. That is the Beach Boys story, if you have to boil it down. Just a simple nut paragraph. And so I think it makes perfect sense that that ends up being this album. Think about the days. Starting this album like that. That seems like the way that an album called Summer's Gone starts, you know. Yeah. But an album. But that is not called Summer's Gone. This album, for instance, it. It maybe promises a little bit more than what the rest of this collection of songs ends up delivering.

[Evan]

But the next song doesn't really conflict with this. I mean, I think that. No, because you have the idea that, like, we're, you know, casting our minds backward. And maybe that's kind of like a somber thing. And then we're back. We've been casted back. And then that's fine. Like there's no conflict here with. That's why God Made the Radio. The title track. Nor I'll just say Springy Head with the. The next track after that, like this first chunk, basically, I think feels consistent with the. The idea that you've got so far presented.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think that isn't. I think that that's why God made the Radio. I mean, it's. It's kind of weird. First and foremost, it makes me think of God gave Rock and Roll to you. The other Argent song, after Rod Argentina left the Zombies, I think he started that band and then eventually Kiss covered it. So it's kind of this silly rock and roll. I mean, God gave rock and roll to you. That's why God made the radio. It's. It's kind of over the top and goofy. Brian loves that. You know, he's like. It's very much Brian's kind of sweet innocence feel. But I do think it's weird because there's like one verse in it where he sings, like, feel the music in the air Find a song to take us there and it's paradise When I lift up my antenna Receiving your signal like a prayer and it's like if you believe and I do that. Like when Brian said he was trying to make a teenage symphony to God with Pet Sounds, I do think he thinks the universe gives him songs and then that gets processed through the Brian filter and it becomes maybe sillier and a little more shortening bread. But. But if you think about, like, that's why God Made the Radio, I mean, it's actually a pretty incredible song, I think, you know, it's like. It's like. It's very epic. You know, there's a lot happening. It's kind of resonant. I think it's. If it had a few punch ups and the lyrics and stuff, maybe certain parts of it could be trimmed back. But I think it sounds pretty great, you know what I mean? Like, and I could imagine this one working really well live if a band were replicating the. All the stuff going on. I think it's kind of a surprisingly good song, if a little more on the nose than the opener's, sort of more, you know, mystic vibe.

[Evan]

The first time I heard this, I thought, like, what's. Yeah, but over time, I do feel like I had the exact same thought process listening to it about, like. Well, let. Let's actually think about what this symbolizes here in the same way that Van Morrison does this. Like, you know, songs about, like, listening to the radio late at night, the pirate station and walking down the street Softer, dark and like, you know, he's he's talking about having a mystic experience and it happens to be through something that sounds to the maybe shallowly listening Gen Z or millennial ear, kind of just like, what's this really the thing at work is it's about that thing which delivers a religious experience to you if you're Brian Wilson listening to Be My Baby for the first time and it literally changes your life.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right.

[Ian]

Well, and I like also the. I mean, this is a common point that we've hit in several contexts in the past, but the radio as this mystical concept even, you know, set aside any spiritual, you know, connotation which, you know, it might have for any given person. But like, think of the night fly. Right. And that whole song cycle about the disc jockey as this kind of mythic figure. Think about Murder Most Foul. Murder Most Foul. Exactly.

[Jason Woodbury]

For that matter, David lynch having this like, late night broadcast in New Mexico in Twin the Return.

[Ian]

Sure.

[Jason Woodbury]

Or Last Night on Earth, the Jim Jarmusch film where you're hearing Tom Waits on the radio all night. Like it is sort of like. I mean, those are more cinematic representations, but still, like, that's the thing. Or for Zevon, you know, Muhammad's radio. There's all these like, sort of like Rock and roll. Exactly. Rock and roll.

[Ian]

Lou Reed.

[Jason Woodbury]

Just about listening to the radio, just hearing good, good songs and kind of freaking out. And that to me is like, yeah, it's easy to, I guess, you know, the fabled Gen zers were talking about to sort of assume that it's just sort of anachronistic, whatever language. But I think the radio really did feel like a mystical device. And Brian clearly, like you said. Yeah, Ronette's song to him is, you know, a transfiguring kind of experience. He really, whatever he lost in terms of sort of like, you know, talking about the music a whole bunch or any of the other things, you know, he still seemed capable of channeling like melodies like non stop, you know, and that's really. That's fascinating.

[Evan]

Yeah, it makes the. I'm warming when we talk about it. But also just in general, it's the idea that it's better to call this album. That's why God made the radio. The. The thing of it being like, you know, if it has any kind of cleverness, it's like, of course, right. God didn't make the radio. But literally. But it's in a sense, sure. He did. It did. She did.

[Jason Woodbury]

She did.

[Evan]

That is the right choice, I think, for actually naming this record that I

[Ian]

think it is clearly one of the successes on this album. This song sounds really nice. Mid tempo kind of number. Some great harmonies from the band. I love hearing Bruce come in on, I think like one of the. The choruses. You can really hear his kind of like sugar sweet, you know, lemonade sounding voice. Good, good, good place to start. Everyone's sounding good, feeling good, being good. And then.

[Evan]

Well, I will just say that there's a little bit to it musically that I think has like a bit of like an elevator music quality. Like, I don't know there for a while. I.

[Ian]

Anyway, well, that's listening. That quality is going to come up quite a bit more in other. In other songs to come. This is one of the better ones when you're evaluating the music on that

[Evan]

caliber, by the way. Elevator music, there's no. None of that existing. Where is that? We don't have elevator music.

[Jason Woodbury]

There's just silent in elevators now.

[Evan]

It's fucked up when you think about it, but please go on.

[Jason Woodbury]

Like you were saying about this song, I mean, they do. There are these weird little kind of inexplicable choices. Like there's a very brief like rock bridge in this where it gets like heavy for one second. They do like a kind of big distorted guitar and then. And then they. Right away that comes out of. Then right away they do a key change. So it was sort of like, here's something to get your attention. Here's another thing to get your attention. And then it's like back into the sort of song or whatever. But. So that stuff's like weird. But like if for me. Yeah, I mean. And this is obviously one of my favorite things about your guys's show is like you have to listen beyond sort of the aesthetic and stylistic choices at the song. And I think it's like, yeah, this is pretty good actually. Like I could hear it being on Holland or something. You know, it's kind of got that. I could imagine it with like a salon sailor kind of vibe or whatever. So kind of a cool song, but. Yeah. And then we get into the. Isn't it time?

[Ian]

Isn't it time?

[Evan]

Shall we do it again?

[Ian]

Yeah. Man, this one really has got some she and him energy to it with that. Like. Is that like a uke at the beginning?

[Jason Woodbury]

I was gonna say. My notes just say anti Yuke.

[Ian]

Oh man, that's tough.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's very unpleasant. Maybe it's not a uke. Maybe it's like some other just sort of high strung, you know, string instrument. But it's really goofy. Like that's I feel like this song sounds to me like Rooney or like a band. Like a. Like a. Like Phantom. Phantom Planet's not quite right, but sort of like a band playing. We're gonna do a song like the Beach Boys. It. That's. To me, it sounds more like that than the Beach Boys doing a song.

[Ian]

Yeah, really, There's a community theater element to the way that this song sounds. And yeah, it is a ukulele. I'm looking at the credits right now, and there's a slight sort of stomp clap beat to it.

[Evan]

Well, this is 2012, as we said.

[Jason Woodbury]

There's a Lumineers.

[Ian]

It's a tough hang.

[Evan]

The exact feeling that this evokes, at least it kind of lessens throughout the track. But the very beginning with Brian on top of that is like your phone just spits out, like, memories from this time. And it's pictures of your very much dying, aged family member, like, on their last breaths. And it's like dink dink da da da. Yeah, and then there's like a picture of like, I don't know, a sandwich and then. Yeah, just a sunset and some picture you took by accident.

[Jason Woodbury]

I. This. It's a pretty. It's. I don't like it. I don't really like the way it sounds, but that quality you mentioned of it getting a little better as it goes is usually the case with these songs, oddly enough. Like, there are some really rough moments. And then oftentimes, not all of them, but oftentimes I think, like, the back half is like, oh, this is kind of better actually than I. Than you thought. It was this one in the chorus, I hear. Not a bad chorus. You know what I mean? Like, that's the chorus. It's. It's very catchy. The isn't it time part. And it. It works. I don't like the attempts at really dressing it up. Like, Paul McCartney is so guilty of that. I like Paul McCartney a lot. But, like, he just keeps doing, like, I'm gonna do a song with Kanye and I'm gonna. You know, I'm gonna stay relevant. Like, I'm gonna do the. I don't know if you ever. I think it's like. Like Ryan Tedder or one of these, like, guys songwriters. But he'll do like, Paul McCartney did that song fu you, which was just sort of like, right to me. It's like he's trying to do a thing, like a current thing. And this song has just a lot of that. That sort of she and him sort of. I don't know, hyper major label version of, like, what Dr. Dog might have done or something. You know what I mean? I don't know.

[Evan]

You find us meeting us with that particular take at this time. I don't know about you, Ian, if you still feel this way, but I've. I have found myself after watching that Paul documentary, which is secretly a Wings documentary in a. In a particularly, like, unforeseen Paul. Again, not. Not really bullish on Paul right now.

[Ian]

You've gone anti Paul.

[Evan]

No, I'll never be anti Paul. That's doesn't exist. But, like, I'm not. I'm not really pleased with. With the Paul industrial complex right now.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think Paul's doing too much. He's just doing too much. And. And, yeah. So, yeah, I think it's kind of a mistake for them to lean into those, like, very 2012 stylistic touches. But if you stripped a bunch of that stuff back, you could kind of get to a core of a good song, I think. But I also think it's kind of funny, you know, it's like, this is 2012. And that lyric, like, how about doing it just like yesterday? Is like. It's tempting to sort of read that as like, almost like this is the rumblings of the. The Proto Maga. Kind of like we're going back to when it was, like, better. But then there's also that lyric where they're sort of like, make sure the good times aren't only in the past. And it doesn't actually seem quite as, like, toxic, you know, so there is just some element, though, of like, old guys being like, what if we went to a beach? What if we went and took the car out, you know, or whatever.

[Evan]

Perhaps we do it again.

[Jason Woodbury]

Perhaps we do it again. Exactly.

[Ian]

You know, I get that reading and I'm generally sympathetic to it. I would give the Beach Boys a pass on that, if only because they've literally been doing it since at least 1969.

[Jason Woodbury]

That's all they've ever done.

[Ian]

From the very beginning. They've just been like, yeah, you know, let's go back to. Let's do it again. But I think that certainly that that feeling or that, I don't know, ethos animates a lot of this music, I think. I think there is a good song in here, or parts of a good song. I get a little bit of a Kokomo type feeling to it at certain points.

[Evan]

You've got a prime mic moment. Maybe the prime mic moment. Isn't it time?

[Ian]

Oh, yeah, it's so where he's, like,

[Jason Woodbury]

way up on the mic, he has, like, really, for rarely. Really right in your ear.

[Ian]

Yeah, well, because he doesn't get. He doesn't get a ton of opportunities to really be the star of the show throughout this album. So he's got to make sure that when he. When he gets them, he's going to. He's going to be talking as close to the mic as he possibly can.

[Evan]

That's Mike's signature thing at this point, is like, he found out at some point, and it's kind of genius. Like, I don't have to push myself. I just get right up in your ear and you can't avoid me. I'm right front and center, baby.

[Ian]

There he is.

[Evan]

No matter what, I'm right here.

[Ian]

I think that's the. And that works. And like I was saying earlier, just, like, hearing Brian sing and then also the unmistakable vocal timbre of Mr. Mike Love on the same track from 2012. Like, that just. That's affecting to me just on its face, because it's been so long since you've gotten that. And so that's cool. That works. There are groovy bits of music here, but, yeah, I mean, the production and this. You know, I hate to beat a dead horse on this, but it's the Joe Thomas thing. Like, this guy's just a fucking schlockmeister cornball supreme. And so as soon as he's in the driver's seat of this album, you kind of just can't. You know, this is. This type of sound, this type of feeling is going to be inevitable to some extent.

[Evan]

Well, I don't know that. Well, it's kind of hard to pinpoint, like, what is that, that Joe Thomas feeling? Because I don't think that really exists famous.

[Ian]

That famous Joe Thomas sound.

[Evan]

It's more like what the kind of common denominator of the particular year that it was recorded.

[Ian]

Exactly the same way that Imagination is redolent of 1998, this is redolent of 2012.

[Evan]

And so that doesn't really mean that you hear Joe Thomas at all. It is just that, like, it doesn't have a depth, kind of sense of character beyond whatever was sort of allow. Which makes in the.

[Ian]

Which makes me think, like, there will be a time somewhere in the future where this album gets, like. Becomes interesting to listen to. The same way that, like, Imagination is kind of interesting to listen to, even though there are some, you know, twinkly, overly twinkly moments. I think it sounds better just with a little bit of distance, I'm guessing. I'm hoping that that's going to be the case here. Kind of like we were saying with Aaron also that, you know, the Gershwin album, that it becomes a more interesting listen down the line. But I think we just need some more time.

[Jason Woodbury]

Think about.

[Ian]

We were just talking about this on the AL episode the other day. A Postcard From California. You ever listen to that one, Jason?

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ian]

It's a good record.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think it is. Yeah.

[Ian]

Probably better record than this, to be honest.

[Evan]

That one doesn't sound like now or then. It just kind of sounds natural.

[Ian]

Well, that's what I'm saying is that I think that record is kind of plain and just plain in terms of production standpoint in a way that this record is not. Like this has that glaze. The honey baked ham shellacking. Yeah, this.

[Evan]

This track does anyway.

[Jason Woodbury]

This track for sure.

[Ian]

That's the Joe Thomas Secret Sauce right there.

[Evan]

And maybe the next track on the next track.

[Ian]

And yes, it is. All its spring vacation is just slathered in it.

[Evan]

Next track is where it starts to just be like. You smell that? Like, when I hear them do Celebration, like in the last track in Isn't It Time, there's something about like, every night is a celebration. And on spring vacation, you bet your ass. There's a line about like, every day is a celebration or something.

[Ian]

Come on.

[Evan]

They just do the same thing. And I'm kind of like, you are. You're not even letting the microwave go the whole five minutes. You're like, just take it out. Three and a half is fine.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's a little frozen in the middle still.

[Ian]

But, yeah, you bite in and it's still cool.

[Jason Woodbury]

Who gives a shit?

[Ian]

I mean, this whole song clearly is just built around the fact that you can rhyme vibrations and vacation good vibrations, by the way. Spring vacation, good vibration. That's the entire thought process that went into this masterpiece.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's definitely like the. It's the. The first one where I'm like, yeah, this one just entirely should be gone. There's nothing really that I feel is redeeming about it. The pre chorus is kind of good, but I feel like this is just. It's so. It's just so goofy. And they even kind of. They're kind of doing a meta thing about, you know, being back together. Like all of our problem, all the past is in the past. You know, they're kind of like alluding to the band dynamic too. And for it to be on this one, which is just like not. But it's not. It's so bad. It's really a pretty rough one. And it's the first one where I'm like, oh, yeah, if this was gone, record would be a lot better. Like Lars, dad says in Some Kind of Monster. Delete that. I would say, you know, if you said. If you were our advisor, what would you say? Then I would say delete that.

[Evan]

Spring vacation is also just something that's

[Ian]

not even spring break.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's spring vacation, which is like.

[Evan]

But doesn't even apply to these. That's something that's only relevant when you're in school. Like, when is what.

[Ian]

It also literally, the chorus says, spring vacation, Good Vibrations, summer weather, we're back together. We've instantly just teleported from one season to the next.

[Evan]

They're just like, what's another hot time? It's spring, right?

[Ian]

If it's not summer, Spring vacation. It's a ridiculous title. The Tuning. We haven't really talked about that so much on a lot of these late era releases, but that has been part of it is just the processing of the vocals. And here in particular, it almost verges on a Daft Punk sound where they're doing robo voice shit. Like, it sounds so clearly computerized and affected in, you know, whatever 2012's finest presets were available in. Logic, it's. It is. That's a tough. That's just a tough listen for me when they come in on the chorus and man, it's just. It's. It's almost like nails on a blackboard at certain points.

[Evan]

Every single part of this feels like. Like it was just sort of lifted from like the corpse of some forgotten.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right.

[Evan]

Top 40 wannabe song.

[Ian]

It barely even sounds like a Beach Boys song. Also, it sounds more like a. Like a. Like a 98 degree. Like a. Like a boy band. Like turn of the millennium boy band reject type song.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's not a. It's. It's not even like hitting like a specific Beach Boys, you know, this is one of their modes from the past on this. It's not. It's not like just sort of like very. It's just so unnecessary and like you said, it's just. I mean, it's just so. It's so non. It's so nondescript. Then you compare that to the next one, which is like so weird and specific. Like it has. I don't. The next one that's so specific that

[Evan]

I don't even know. Do you either of you know?

[Jason Woodbury]

It's about what's going on here. The private. For listeners, of course, the private life of Bill and Sue. It's like a reality TV thing. You're watching the. Them. Their whole thing, and it's like a

[Ian]

Truman show type thing.

[Jason Woodbury]

I don't know if it's. Maybe they're not aware that they're being watched. I mean, that would have to be a Truman show situation. Right? So I don't know if Bill and Sue know they're being watched. Maybe not. The only. This is a. It's such a weird one. It's like. It's not super offensive to me, sonically. It's also not like I don't love it, but it doesn't really bother me. There's kind of a Latin tinge to it, which is.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[Jason Woodbury]

Enters into the frame here. And then I kind of like that weird talking part at the end where you're hearing, like, the newscast where they're talking about, like, Bill and Sue being lost at sea or whatever.

[Evan]

It's like Black Diamond Bay.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, yeah. Right. And there's a sax solo going with that. And for some reason, I kind of like that. But this is also just like. I just don't know. I mean, did Brian watch reality tv? What was he watching, like?

[Ian]

Well, Brian does like to.

[Jason Woodbury]

We.

[Ian]

We know Brian likes the movies. He likes tv. He likes to write songs about watching TV and watching movies.

[Evan]

Are we gonna do the Norbit episode, by the way?

[Ian]

That's up to you. You're the one hurrying us along to the finish. So

[Evan]

this song is, like, fake Jimmy Buffett?

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Evan]

And I mean that in, like, the most, like, literal sense. Like, it's got even the top American

[Ian]

sound to it, doesn't.

[Jason Woodbury]

It really does.

[Evan]

There's a million Jimmy Buffett songs that sound exactly like this, but have more coherent lyrics. But even, like, the subject matter is, like, not that far from something Jimmy Buffett would do.

[Jason Woodbury]

No, it's not. That's true.

[Evan]

It's just unexpected.

[Ian]

And I'm willing to give him pass on this. Like, this is a weird song, but. But the Beach Boys. Every record has a weird fucking song. Think of all the records at the beginning where it's just, like, sketches they're doing in the studio. Think of the Feet song Take Good Care of youf Feet on Surf's Up.

[Jason Woodbury]

That's a good point.

[Ian]

Half of the songs on 15 big ones, like, weird. Like, a weird song is part of the Beach Boys formality.

[Jason Woodbury]

It should probably be, like, more in the second half of the record, probably. You know what I mean?

[Ian]

Or, like, More self consciously weird, you know? Cause the lyric is so weird.

[Jason Woodbury]

Doesn't the sound.

[Ian]

The sound is so not bad. It's just like kind of milquetoast a little.

[Jason Woodbury]

I mean, I'll take villains who.

[Evan]

I mean, I'll.

[Jason Woodbury]

I'll take this so much more over, you know, like some of the stuff that.

[Ian]

Spring vacation.

[Jason Woodbury]

Spring Vacation. Because this one's just like. I don't even know what they're trying to do fully. And it seems you just know. Brian was very insistent about that. You know what I mean? No, we got to do Private Life of Bill and sue, you know, like. And when you.

[Evan]

If you look up Bill and Sue, the most common search is Bill and Sue Gross, who were philanthropists at a very public, Messy divorce in 2017. So not. Well, not related to this, I guess.

[Ian]

I guess not. Yeah. Not this villain. Sue.

[Evan]

The second search is this song.

[Ian]

I feel like this one again, the same way that Spring Vacation, the entire concept for that song just sprang from rhyming Spring vacation and good vibration. I feel like this whole thing is built out of the chorus when they're just doing California to Mexico, Dallas, Texas to Monterey, Sano Nofre to Jersey Shore. It's literally surfing.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, absolutely right.

[Ian]

And so that's fine. And that's good. And that's beach boy shit. I dig that. It just. It's kind of shoehorned very awkwardly. Like, I don't even know how that relates to the private life of Bill and Sue, that you're just naming all of these coastal cities.

[Jason Woodbury]

That's where Bill and Sue are going in their private life.

[Ian]

I guess it's Santa.

[Jason Woodbury]

No, I know. It's such a. It's funny though, because, like, yeah, this. As we get back into the second half of the record, they do start to play with geography in a cool kind of cool. Or like a California pastoralism, you know, this kind of hints at that. But it's just. It's such a weird. It's a very. It's just a very strange song, honestly. And I mean, that makes it that much more enjoyable to me than, yeah, spring vacation or whatever.

[Ian]

So, yeah, it's weird. It's interesting. It's maybe not entirely successful. I dig the vibraphone. That's our boy Darian on the vibraphone.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah,

[Ian]

it's fine. It works here. I think. It's not. This gets to stay on the album. In the jokerman recut of this record,

[Evan]

the only effect it had on me was like, hold on. And I went back and I was like, what was that song about? And I did that pretty much every time I listened to this. I was just like, wait, what? I just listen to it again.

[Ian]

All right. Shelter. Shelter from the.

[Evan]

Shelter from the. Do you think that they. I. I have a. A gut feeling that nobody in the room recognized that there. That lyric is from a Bob Dylan song called Shelter from the Storm.

[Ian]

I would guess that the Brian Wilson band, I guarantee you Darion is, probably kept their mouth. But, yeah, I would guess that Brian himself, you know, if he's ever heard from Shelter from the Storm, you know, it wasn't Forefront of mine in 2012,

[Jason Woodbury]

but I could totally picture the phrase lodging in his head and thinking, someday I'll use that. You know what I mean? Because, like, it's not. I mean, this one is weird. We talked about the Ronettes earlier. This is totally got, like, a Ronettes, like, rhythm, which is kind of cool. It's not the. It's not terrible, in my opinion. Shelters, it's not, like, great, but it's. It's definitely not. Like, I'm not opposed to it. For some reason. It reminds me of the Green album by Weezer. Like, it doesn't feel like it has. Like, it. Like it cares that much, but it kind of works. Overall, it's kind of a sweet sentiment. So, yeah, it's kind of just like. Yeah, it doesn't. It kind of washes over me, but it's not. It's not offensive to me the way other things are on the record.

[Ian]

Yeah. I think this is squarely, like, in the middle of the pack in terms of quality on this album. It doesn't sound overly corny. There's no ukulele. Thank God. I guess for listeners who aren't familiar, the reason we're saying this is Shelter from the Storm, the song is literally called Shelter, and then the chorus literally begins. I'll give you shelter from the storm and a house to keep you warm. I dig the part right before you get to the chorus where Brian says, summertime, take a few calls and make a little love. Yeah, thank God for Shelter. That's cute. To me, it doesn't really like the concept of shelter. It's just called. The song is just called Shelter. It's not even like, home or, like, house or, like beach. Like, beach house. Like, call it, like, beach house or something like that.

[Jason Woodbury]

This is pretty nondescript shelter.

[Ian]

It could be a tent. It could be a wigwam.

[Jason Woodbury]

Maybe that's what makes it sweet, you know, wherever they are together. No, I do kind of, like that it's just Brian Wilson being like, what if we don't leave the house anymore?

[Evan]

Which, I mean, you know, classic Brian concept.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, why not?

[Ian]

I also love just, you know, beyond the phrasing and the enunciation of that pre chorus line and the things that Brian is so happy to do in his shelter are have sex and talk

[Jason Woodbury]

on the phone, make a few calls. Oh, man,

[Ian]

should have been eating. That would have been the real hitting for the Brian Wilson hat trick. Talk on the phone, have sex and then eat a big piece of pie.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yes. The George Costanza thing. He's trying to do all three at once.

[Ian]

And the chorus is nice. You know, we gotta give a shout out to Jeff Foscett here of the Brian Wilson Band, who we've mentioned a couple times.

[Evan]

He is.

[Ian]

He is the falsetto.

[Jason Woodbury]

Falsetto is awesome, actually.

[Ian]

It's fantastic. Yeah, and that's the early. That's like the 1964 Brian Wilson sound, you know, falsetto. Brian himself would have done that if this album had come out, you know, 50, 50 years earlier. And he just. It's a very convincing and effective type sound. So coming through. I think that really makes this song for me, to the extent that this song is even made.

[Evan]

I will say that I think Brian sounds good. I know that it has that sheen, that slickness, that computer Brian thing, but I still feel like basically it works.

[Ian]

I think the digital. The tuning is worse on a lot of the backing vocals.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think, honestly, Brian still sounds like he's probably hitting those notes a little better than some of the backing vocals, like, genuinely. Yeah, yeah.

[Ian]

It's definitely cleaned up a little bit, but it's not distracting to me.

[Evan]

Brian's vocals, we saw him play in 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl.

[Jason Woodbury]

15.

[Evan]

And I thought he sounded good.

[Ian]

Yeah, he sounded good, absolutely.

[Jason Woodbury]

When I've seen him too. Yeah, he. There's times where he sits out on the vocals, but when he's hitting, he sounds great. You know, he's still a good singer. I think about how many of these, like, awesome older artists that we all admire, you know, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, you know, Bob, where the voice in their old age, it changes, it turns into a whole different thing, you know, and then you've got like a Brian where it's like, that's not the way it works with Brian. You know what I mean?

[Ian]

Yeah, that's true. Like Lou, Bob and Leonard, for instance, all three almost turn into just like a talking by, you know, their late era. And like, Brian is always singing and that's A different type of thing.

[Jason Woodbury]

He's melody first entirely in a way that, like, you know, with the words are secondary sometimes. And I think that's why even when this record is kind of middling or whatever, there's still moments where you're like, oh, yeah, it's great to hear Brian coming in with something.

[Ian]

Absolutely. No, I'm with you on that. Shelter. It's just called Shelter. Come on, you gotta do better than that, Boys.

[Jason Woodbury]

First record label Tom Petty was signed to.

[Ian]

Okay. Next is Daybreak over the Ocean.

[Evan]

I completely forgot about this.

[Jason Woodbury]

We're in the love zone here.

[Ian]

This is Kokomo, too. Come on. How could you forget this one?

[Evan]

I just.

[Jason Woodbury]

This is the mic loves. This is Mike Love's big shot.

[Ian]

That's right. Mike's big chance.

[Evan]

It's the point in the record where I. Nothing is gonna make this song, like, stick for me. Like, something between Shelter and Beaches in mind. Like, once Private Life of Bill and sue hits and we're in Shelter and then we're here, like, it's just like,

[Ian]

what Private Life of Bill and sue hits. I just love that.

[Evan]

It's just like, shellacs my brain, and then the rest of the songs just start to, like, run off of it, like. Like water on a windshield.

[Jason Woodbury]

I went for a long walk with the record today. I had the headphones on and I was just, you know, going. I was like, I'm gonna make some final notes. And it was on this one that I was like, how much is left? Like, you know, like, I kind of really want to go listen to something else right now. But, yeah, it. There's moments that I think, turn it around to come, but at this point, it is pretty. I mean, it's like. It's not. Mike sounds pretty good. It's not great. It's. It's competent, though. It is Kokomo Y vibe, you know, and. But it's just not.

[Evan]

Yeah, anything. I hear a little bit less Kokomo and more like Warmed Over Farmer's Daughter that, like, bring back. That's the biggest trick this has up its sleeve, which is just like, all

[Ian]

right, I think he's clear. I mean, this is. It's worth noting. This is. This is a pure Mike Love composition, writer, Mike Love. No Brian Wilson. No. Joe Thomas. Lead vocal, Mike Love. No Brian Wilson. I guess Brian's maybe in the background there, but this is the mike showcase on this album through and through.

[Jason Woodbury]

I. I like to imagine that he had to negotiate that, you know, like, that there was an agreement, you know? Cause I mean, you know, like you said, he goes for it. I mean, this is. It's. Yeah, it's very shellacked over.

[Ian]

I think it's fine. I think this one makes it on the Jokerman recut here. To the extent that this album works, in some cases, I think it works as a reference back to discrete eras of the Beach Boys. I think we've seen with Private Life of Bill and sue, the weird song God Made the Radio I think is a, you know, a sort of do it again type song. And this is a reference to the Kokomo era, which, like it or not, is a Beach Boy. A discreet, distinct, very well known Beach Boys era. And as we've said, it's a great song. Kokomo, this is not Kokomo, but it's a reasonable facsimile of that sound and that feeling. And so hearing Mike do his Mike love thing, you know, going on and on. Bring back. Bring my baby back. Whatever. Sure, that works. That gets a passing grade from me.

[Evan]

Yeah. Note. I didn't say that I thought it was bad. It's just more like. I don't know what I thought.

[Ian]

It just.

[Evan]

It exists.

[Ian]

It sure does. Also should be noted that this features Christian Love. The vocal talents of Mr. Christian Love and Ms. Or Madam Haley Love.

[Evan]

Last scene on our episode about the Christmas.

[Ian]

The Mike Love Christmas album. Exactly.

[Evan]

Jesus album. Yeah.

[Jason Woodbury]

Everybody's favorite.

[Ian]

They put the Christ in Christmas. This song, just one last little note extends from First Love, the album First Love.

[Jason Woodbury]

Really?

[Ian]

Yes.

[Evan]

How do you.

[Ian]

I don't know if you recall, Evan.

[Evan]

Oh, oh, is that the one with Viji.

[Ian]

With Viggy. That's right. Exactly. And so that's why it is the mic composition on this album is because it was literally written for his unproduced or unreleased, rather solo album. First Love. Legendary album First Love. And so here it is getting its day in the sun 35 years later.

[Jason Woodbury]

Never let it go.

[Ian]

That's right. Listen, when you really knock one out of the park, you gotta hang onto that and make sure that it gets its day in the sun. A lot of the painters that we love, you know, Van Gogh, he didn't get to see that during his lifetime, even though obviously he was just as good at his art as my next

[Evan]

song is Beaches and Mine.

[Jason Woodbury]

Peaches and My Peaches.

[Evan]

Peaches and My Peaches and Cream Beach.

[Jason Woodbury]

There's.

[Evan]

I've got.

[Jason Woodbury]

There's like a Peaches. There's a talk box. At one point you hear like a kind of talk box guitar. That's my Sole like compliment for the song. I think it's just. It's not good. This is a pretty bad.

[Evan]

I'm start saying that when I want to go to the beach. Hey, you know what I'm thinking? I've got beaches in mind.

[Ian]

Beaches in mind. I got a question for you guys. When was the last time any of these fucking guys went to the beach?

[Jason Woodbury]

They talk about it in a way that does insinuate that it's much more. It's like that thing of Brian never actually surfed. It's like this is the beach. Well, really, these are the beaches of the mind. And beaches in the mind as well.

[Ian]

Beaches of the mind. Yeah. I just love that this was just like a thing that they were kind of into for like six months in 1962, going to the beach and then that it's just their entire culture. Exactly. The rest of their lives they have to sing through their teeth, through gritted teeth about how much they love this fucking thing that they don't give a shit about at all.

[Evan]

How do you know? Maybe they go to the beach a lot.

[Ian]

I mean, I know Dennis obviously went to the beach. I bet Al, you know, I think Al has spent some time.

[Evan]

Well, he lives on the coast. They all live.

[Jason Woodbury]

You could see Al doing a lot of nice hikes and stuff.

[Ian]

Mike is a pool man. Mike has got his Santa Barbara estate. He's. He's hitting the pool in the backyard.

[Evan]

Hey, Santa Barbara Coast. What do you mean they all live by the. If there's one thing about the beach,

[Ian]

go to the beach. Do you go to the beach with your. With your towel and your umbrella and your cooler and you set up there? And I don't, I don't buy it.

[Evan]

I just don't know that we need to go after them for beach stolen valor of going to the beach. But I think it's very plausible they all spend some time at the beach.

[Ian]

I don't know how much time they were spending. I don't know how many times they had beaches in mind as 70 year old men.

[Evan]

Even if you're not going to the beach, you can have beaches in mind anytime.

[Jason Woodbury]

I mean that's the kind of the advantage.

[Ian]

This song sounds written for Tailor Made for just a Beaches, you know, like the resort commercial. And it probably never was used for that and probably never will be. But that's about the most positive I can say.

[Evan]

There's a resort called Beaches.

[Ian]

Yeah, like Sandals, just beaches, beaches, resorts.

[Evan]

All right.

[Ian]

Family, all inclusive vacation beaches.

[Jason Woodbury]

I mean the beach boys are pro family So, I mean, I think they'd be into it.

[Ian]

There you go. Actually, it's related to Sandals. There's Beaches Resorts and Sandals Resorts, and they're both part of Sandals Resorts International, which is a parent company to five resort brands across seven countries. Would you like to know more?

[Evan]

No.

[Jason Woodbury]

Hopefully they're listening and they're gonna license this song.

[Ian]

I'm sure Mike's had his people on it already.

[Jason Woodbury]

Mike would be okay with it, for sure.

[Ian]

All right, what do we got next? Strange World. All right, this one, I like that we're singing about Santa Monica Pier. That's good. But, like. And so I guess this is the beginning, we should say, of the final suite of songs on this album. These last four are thematically connected and engage with this. I think, as you said earlier, Jason, California Mythos and kind of speak to the Beach Boys journey. We've seen them do this before. We've heard them do this before. It's got a little bit of the Rio Grande feeling at the end of the Brian Wilson album. It's got a little bit of that lucky old son feeling.

[Evan]

If you took the beginning of this and inserted one of them Steve Bruhl intros that he does, then you could put it right in that record.

[Ian]

Sure. And so I think this portion of the record is the strongest portion of the record to me, these last four songs. And it should be noted that this is cut down from additional material. There's this series of songs or song snippets called the Life Suite, which was, you know, this is some of it, but there was much more of it. Some of it hit in that recent massive leak of Beach Boys material that came out a month or two ago. So everyone curious, go give that a listen. We're not gonna talk about it here today. Anyways, Strange World starts that off. It just. This really sounds like musical theater to me, the song. And it's not a flavor that I'm particularly fond of in my Beach Boys recordings.

[Jason Woodbury]

I agree. Until sort of the second half after the yo te amo means I love you or whatever. For some reason, when they say that, it switches the. It kind of shifts into this almost like symphonic psych thing a little bit. Like, it actually gets kind of like. The second half of this song is actually way cooler. It's kind of cheesy, a little bit. Like, there's, like. They talk about the bike chime or they talk about the bike, and you hear the bike chime bing.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[Jason Woodbury]

I mean. Which, again, you know, it's vegetables. We're Being groovy. It's like, I get it. But the actual very end of the song is kind of nuts. It's this almost ambient, weird, haunting noise that lasts just for a few seconds, you know? And so you definitely get the sense. I think you're right. This is where the record starts to get it. Like, maybe the Life sessions sort of are a more cohesive thing, you know? And this is sort of. Now we're getting back into the promise of the first song, right? The. The kind of choral intro. Because I feel like these next couple songs get a little more baroque in that way.

[Ian]

Yeah. Yeah. And that's. I think that's the. The. The story of this album and. Which is the story of the Beach Boys life in miniature is this, like, can we do both? We gotta do this, but we also gotta do that. Can they coexist together? And it starts off on a strong foot. We think about the days with that's why God Made the Radio. You know, there's a couple decent moments somewhere in the middle. Or the second, third. I guess the Private Life of Bill and sue and Shelter are fine, but, like, there's a lot of just the type stuff. And so when you get to the end with Strange World, like, I think if there were just fewer shitty songs before this, I would be willing to cut it a little more slack, at least the first part of it. But when you've gotten through Beaches In Mind and Daybreak over the Ocean and Spring Vacation, it's just like, all right, we're doing this again.

[Jason Woodbury]

They could have cut it down. I mean, I was looking at how Pet Sounds is famously not very long. It's like, mix. Maybe like 29 minutes or something. And I thought, well, surely this record is, like dwarfs Pet Sounds. But it's, like, only, like 10 minutes long.

[Evan]

And that's like, the exact amount of time that of the ones that if you just snipped them, it wouldn't.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think if you snipped a bunch of those off, like, you actually could have, like, a pretty compelling final statement from the Beach Boys here. It would be a shorter one.

[Evan]

That's why God made the radio. Isn't it time? The first three can stay. And then how about we just say Shelter, Daybreak,

[Ian]

Beaches in mind, Shelter into daybreak into beaches.

[Evan]

And then you got.

[Ian]

That's a smooth run.

[Evan]

Strange World. Well, maybe. Jesus Christ, I guess.

[Jason Woodbury]

I don't want Private Life of Bill and Sue. You can keep it in there if you want.

[Evan]

Maybe let's keep all of them, actually. This is great.

[Jason Woodbury]

Let's keep all of them. It's an incredible record.

[Ian]

Anyways, I think starting to interpret or interrogate the Beach Boys legend legacy, this is affecting to me the same way that just hearing Brian and everyone else singing together is affecting. I love that little line, you can drive your car to the county fair. Strange World referencing county fair of all songs. Like, that's. That's pure Beach Boys nuts brain.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's like Deep Cut.

[Ian]

Deep, Deep Cut. Exactly. But for me, it's like, come on, that's great. I just wish there would have been a little chuggalug reference tucked in somewhere. And then it segues into Al's star turn on this album. As you were mentioning earlier, Jason. And I think from here on out, to me, I think the rest of this music is good and which totally works. Beginning with From There to Back Again.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. I think Strange World signals the sort of shift where, like, it could be edited a little bit to fit better, but by this point we're fully in. Like, I think this is. I mean, I think Al sounds fantastic.

[Ian]

Oh, it's fantastic.

[Jason Woodbury]

As you mentioned, you know, Al has had some good late career work and he's kind of unassuming. But, I mean, this song is just like, very, very pretty. And it's. It's really nicely written. Very poetic, kind of. I mean, from There, From There to Back Again makes you think of Tolkien a little bit, which is what made me think about the sort of California pastoralism, kind of almost fairy tale vibe that we get into with this. But Al just sounds really committed, you know, and he's. And he's affecting. I just love. I mean. And it's easy to love Al, I think. And this is just a great showcase for it. And it's really, really. The band is playing just beautifully from here on out on the record in terms of really tapping into that. You know, it's a modern technology assisted version of the kind of classic Brian Wilson sound. But I think they're pretty tasteful with it from here on out. And this one's really an example of the taste. Like, the taste being consistent with this one, you know, Whereas the others are. There's no stomp clap. There's no uke on this one.

[Ian]

No, exactly. Yeah. And thank God for that. Yeah. This one, I think, has a clear type of Pet Sounds flavor to it, right? With, you know, the flute with the kind of big boomy drum, you know,

[Evan]

the snares.

[Ian]

Yeah, the snares and the backing vocals, I think, are fantastic. That's like my favorite Part of this whole song, I guess. Al also. But the. Just the wordless harmonizing that you get throughout this, like, that's beautiful. That's pure Beach Boy shit. And then on top of that, yeah, you've got this fantastic Al Jardine vocal that I think fits into this narrative very nicely, seamlessly. It's not. It's not. It's not Pet Sounds as a lyrical object, but I think it. It makes sense and does what it needs to to really sell this part of the album.

[Evan]

It's a bit late in the game for me to, like, fully give this my attention at this point in the record because I think that it demands a bit of.

[Ian]

This is the best part of the record.

[Jason Woodbury]

You could skip to it. You probably should.

[Evan]

It is the best part of the record, but it's, like, truly an example of, like, being buried in. In.

[Jason Woodbury]

You have been tested.

[Evan]

Like, it is damn buried. Like, we've got.

[Jason Woodbury]

They sequenced it like a. Like an LP.

[Evan]

Like in the 50s.

[Jason Woodbury]

On a vinyl LP. In the 50s. Yeah. And that's a really. With this particular set of songs, it's a tough sequence, you know.

[Ian]

Well, and that's what makes this album, I think, ultimately probably unsuccessful, at least as a. As an album. There are successful moments on it, certainly. But whoever. I don't even know if such a person exists. That is the person who wants to listen to Peaches In Mind or Spring Vacation, but whoever that person is, they don't want to hear this sort of melancholy reflection on loss of innocence with this kind of throwback mid-60s production sound here on track on this album.

[Evan]

Well, don't they, though? I mean, these people who are buying this record, a huge percent of them are in their 70s.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think that. I think that the fan base. I think they want the. The Good Vibrations, Spring Vacations vibes more than they want this from the Beach Boys.

[Ian]

Right.

[Jason Woodbury]

But not everybody, obviously. There are people who. Who love the Beach Boys for their more. More contemplative and somber side, you know, and that's. Thankfully, this record has something for even that kind of fan, you know? But I do think that the. The perception is that, yeah, it's like Jimmy Buffett esque, right? It's Parrot Head ish. At least that's how Mike Love sort of perceives it as like, we're gonna go throw some boards on the Woody and go to the beach just like we used to. It's like, very, you know. So I do think that there probably is a little bit of not impatience for this kind of thing. But just yet a lot less interest in it. I think I could be wrong. I don't want to.

[Ian]

I mean, I think that the people, the Beach Boys and listener community, such as it exists or whatever, beach boys fans in 2012, most of them do just want to do it again. And that's what they want, and that's what they dig, and that's what they get at the shows. And so, like, songs like Spring Vacation or Isn't It Time or whatever are aimed towards those people or are at least conceived of as, you know, Beach Boys songs that people can, like, love and sing and whatever. But, like, I think those people, they don't want new shit from the Beach Boys in general. Even stuff that sounds like Spring Vacation. They just want to hear, literally do it again. And so, to the extent that anyone is interested in buying and listening to new beach boys music in 2012, it's people like us who are interested in the whole kind of long arc of the band, Obviously, the more artistic sides of the band. And so that's why this part of the record, we end up responding to more. And so, like I was saying a moment ago, I think that ultimately this record is probably unsuccessful as a complete package, but I think a large part of that is due to the fact that they were trying to make two different records for two different audiences, one of which wasn't gonna listen to any of this shit in the first place, you know.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right.

[Ian]

It's worth looking. I'm just. You know, I have this up on Spotify in the background while we're talking. These songs have, like, you know, the Life Suite. Actually, these last couple songs have several million streams. Private Life of Bill and Sue. 3 million. Shelter. Can I ask where you're getting shelter? 300,000 and what is the Light?

[Evan]

Where are you seeing it being called the Life Suite?

[Ian]

Well, that's just. It doesn't appear as that on the track listing. That's just what it is known as

[Jason Woodbury]

what it was like previous, previously, like, existing sessions

[Ian]

that had leaked. So, yeah. So I think that if they had had the wherewithal or the willingness or the agreement to just really do a record that kind of fulfilled this type of sound, this type of promise, I think it could have been really something. But, you know, that's not. Was not to be. And I guess to return once again to what I was saying at the beginning, that's kind of the Beach Boy story. And so it. It only makes sense that that's how this ends up coming together.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah. Yeah. And then. Yeah. As I mean, I think as we've alluded, you know, the songs kind of all blend together from here on out. Right. So I think there's. It's technically like pch.

[Ian]

Yeah. Pacific coast highway, you know, which is like a minute long or something like that.

[Jason Woodbury]

Right.

[Ian]

But it's lyric.

[Jason Woodbury]

It's weird when you see that it's a minute long. You think, oh, it's gonna be like another intro. But then there's a small lyrical passage in the minute, which is kind of interesting.

[Ian]

Yeah.

[Jason Woodbury]

And it's just very much Brian being like, I. I'm gonna die someday. I'm gonna die soonish, you know. And granted, you know, this is from 2012, so he really. He had another decade plus, you know, doing stuff, which is cool. But it is kind of beautiful that there's this sort of goodbye quality and then summer's gone. Obviously, just legitimately being quite a moving song, in my opinion. Very, very, very, very mournful and just like really nicely orchestrated and again, played by Brian Wilson's band predominantly. Right. So, I mean, it's. It's pretty cool. Like you're saying it is interesting that there's like, this is the record that they want. There's like these two records they're make trying to please both, you know, whatever masters. And in this case, like you said, nobody would have cared about the pop stuff. You know, nobody was going to add it to the top rotation.

[Ian]

You know, it's not on the 50 Big Ones compilation of Beach Boys greatest hits.

[Jason Woodbury]

But you could take these last ones and make them one song suite or whatever and include it because I think they're pretty great, for sure.

[Ian]

No.

[Jason Woodbury]

So, yeah, you can do your own edit of this album and actually make it pretty good. But as it stands, it is a noble at times attempt and a crass one at others. And like you said, really can't get more Beach Boys than that.

[Ian]

Than that.

[Jason Woodbury]

Like, it is. It is the. That's the story of the. Of the Beach Boys for sure. And yeah, the highs are. The highs are quite high on it, but the lows are. The lows are pretty low.

[Ian]

Indeed they are. It reminds me, the way this album ends, reminds me a little bit of surface up the album because you've got that just enormously weighty trio at the very end. Day in the life of a tree into Till I Die into Surf's up at the end of this record that also includes Student demonstration time and the feet song. And those are, I guess, Take a load off your Feet is. I like that song. Student demonstration time. We've had that conversation. And so that weirdness, that tension, that just back and forth feeling makes that a compelling listen. Surfs up, I think, in a way. And I hope, I guess, to return to what I was saying earlier, I hope that one day I get that same kind of sense of frisson out of this record. Listening to the private life of Bill and Sue and Beaches in mind. And then also this incredibly kind of contemplative and touching and frankly, deeply sad, you know, conclusion to this final Beach Boys album.

[Jason Woodbury]

It is actually. It's really sad. I mean, I think it's honest, too, and I appreciate that about it, you know, but, yeah, having paid attention to this record when it came out and then revisiting it now, I get a glimmer of what you're talking about, of sort of being able to hear it as interesting for its time. But thankfully, the last couple recordings redeem it in a. In a major way. So it's like revisiting it. If you kind of skip to that part, you know, or make your own fan edit, you could. And I think that that's. It's been. It was a lot of fun to revisit those. Those recordings and think about, you know, Mike Love leaning up into the mic and really just, like, reconnecting.

[Evan]

Mike Love loving that mic.

[Jason Woodbury]

He was loving that mic.

[Ian]

Evan, any thoughts on these final numbers?

[Evan]

Pacific coast highway and Summer's Gone.

[Ian]

That's right.

[Evan]

From there to back again to the end, these last three. I find it to be kind of sleepy, like, kind of sundowning vibe. Like, I. I sort of wish that there was something in here, like. And obviously this hadn't been done yet, but I keep pounding the drum for One Kind of Love by Brian Wilson, which appears as like, a life raft on no Peer Pressure. But that song, you know, it has, like, a somberness, it has, like a gravity, but it's. It's really triumphant. I just feel like there's a bit of a sort of feeling by the end of this record where I was kind of like, damn, we're just, like, dwindling down and then we just kind of burn out.

[Ian]

Well, I think there was more of this. Like I was said, there were at least another 5, 10 minutes of this music that was initially envisioned as this overall kind of life suite. I think that it was, you know, in one reality, it would have been the whole second side of the record. The whole back half of this would have been this one long, flowing song suite. And it was, you know, it was chopped up and pieced together to the. You know, to the extent that it was here to make room for Daybreak over the Ocean and beaches and mine and stuff. And I guess that's the compromise that you have to make when you're making a Beach Boys record. Nothing of a Brian Wilson record.

[Evan]

Not a compromise. I will say though, that Summer's Gone. Like. Yeah, I mean, sure, I think I was kind of harsh on it just now, but I think it actually properly bookends the record with Think about the Days and Summer's Gone and Pacific Coast Highway. Like, I actually don't hate the last two tracks as the last two tracks.

[Ian]

I should hope not. Those are the two best tracks on the record.

[Evan]

It's not like those are a problem at all. It's. I think that the feeling of like maybe not being. I just. I miss something that feels a little bit like. Like the kind of song that lifts up those other moments on the great Beach Boys records. Like a. A Long Promise Road, you know, a song that kind of has a bit of a spiritual banger, you know, it kind of just missing that feeling.

[Ian]

That's. That's Spring Vacation.

[Jason Woodbury]

They should have done a reprise of. That's why God Made the Radio.

[Evan]

I agree. That's it. It's not a bad idea at all.

[Jason Woodbury]

Like, it could have just faded back in, you know, and you're just hearing.

[Evan]

That's why I think that's a great idea.

[Jason Woodbury]

Because it actually, to a certain degree then you get, you know, there's the sadness, the end of stuff, but then there's also the sort of echo of the. Of the. The music going out, you know. But yeah, I. I kind of. I get what you're saying, actually. I actually do. It is kind of modeling. But I mean, I. I think it's beautiful and I'm. I'm glad for it. But it is. We're hearing it. Yeah. In the context of this sort of compromised version, this kind of retrofitted version. I wonder how it would hit if it were this full cycle that we were sort of. That was the envisioned.

[Evan]

Yeah. Or. Or like the. The now. It's kind of like accidentally, of course, but like a traditional. To have a completely ill suited, like more experimental but beautiful Brian Wilson composition that is then just like shoehorned in toward the end of a. Otherwise all over the place. Beach Boys record. Like, they could have picked. I mean, I think your idea is actually a very elegant solution, but something like that, like, of course, even having a reprise of the title track, like, that's Modeling too. But it's. It's got a little bit of like chutzpah, you know, that I feel like we're just.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, I think that there's some like genuine like kind of sweetness to that song. And I do, I do, I do see like wanting a little of that at the end because Brian's music, I mean, whatever. To get, you know, kind of emotional or whatever. I mean he. It does bring people so much joy. It is kind of a thing of like. I don't think the predominant feeling people think about when they think about Brian Wilson is soul crushing sadness. I do. I ask him about until I die, you know, because I. I think that's a beautiful side of his songwriting. But yeah, the average person probably, if. If you did. If the average person listened to this record, they might find that to be a little of a downer. Close.

[Evan]

One thing that's very beautiful and touching is the literal last few seconds which are like wind chimes. Am I wrong? They sound like kind of tinkly for wind chimes, but it sounds like wind chimes in the rain and the wind.

[Jason Woodbury]

Some sort of field recordings. Yeah, kind of. I think that's pretty cool too actually.

[Ian]

And you know, the rolling ocean is there as well. And that's a little on the nose, but entirely appropriate and completely earned. And even harkens back a little bit to those early Beach Boys records. Like when Brian would take a microphone out to the street to capture a car roaring by. To include that on whatever. What song is it that has the. Is it 409? That has a revving engine on it or something? One of the car songs, obviously. I'm assuming that he didn't do it quite so lo fi here, but there is this found sound element is something that you get in many Beach Boys records.

[Jason Woodbury]

They went on YouTube and searched.

[Ian]

Exactly. Just like water, Water sound hit the. Hit the YouTube to MP3 downloader website. Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yt3m.ru yeah, downloader virus corrupted those studio computers. Exactly.

[Ian]

It's one the of of those pop up windows that says like, you know, your computer is melting down. Please send us $500 in iTunes gift cards.

[Evan]

Yeah. Let's imagine any of them going that. Getting that intimate with a computer. I can't.

[Ian]

That was. That's what Joe Thomas was there to do.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah.

[Ian]

All right. Well, we have done it. We have gone from there to back again with the Beach Boys and we've done all the. That's it. We did all the Beach Boys records. I hate to. I hate for this to sort of peter down the drain the way that this album sort of does. But that's it. Show's over, folks. That's all, folks.

[Jason Woodbury]

Well, I mean, I appreciate you guys having me on to talk about my third. To be. To be a part of the Beach Boys trilogy with you guys. It means a lot to me and I wish that I. We talked about like Carl and the Passions for like three hours or something, and I don't think I could muster this talking about this record for three hours, but I think we. But I think we still gave it more than its fair shake.

[Ian]

Exactly. It has been given its day in court.

[Jason Woodbury]

I think given its day in court,

[Ian]

that's the least that we could do. And I don't know anyone better to have done it with, so. Thank you for joining us, Jason. And you've got it should be noted, a new. I will say have not listened to it yet because I have got to listen to a lot of music these days. But a new record, I think that just dropped, literally, I guess, as we're speaking a couple days ago with the COVID looks like a Raymond Carver book.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, yeah. I worked with Dee Norson to do a full vintage Contemporaries rip. It was really fun to do. Yeah. Jason P. Woodbury and the Nightbird Singing Quartet. That's the name of that record and I'm very, very proud of it and very pleased to have it out in the world now.

[Ian]

Amazing. Well, we'll put a link in the episode. I'm gonna give it a spin now that. Now that I'm done studying up on late era Beach Boys music.

[Jason Woodbury]

Guys, it was really fun talking about this record with you and it's been a blast listening to you guys talk about the Beach Boys. I'm glad this isn't the full, full end. There's a little more left, but I will miss it when it's done. I've been enjoying this series the entire time, so thank you.

[Evan]

Thank you. Thank you very much, Jason.

[Ian]

One of our great guests and hopefully one of our great episodes about an album that maybe could have been greater but isn't the worst.

[Evan]

How great is it, though? How many stars out of three do you give this record?

[Ian]

One star. One star. That's why God gave this album one star.

[Evan]

I also give it one star out of three.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, I'd give it one star out

[Ian]

of three dot Pretty good.

[Evan]

Pretty good. But we give, I think, the Beach Boys discography three stars.

[Ian]

Three stars.

[Jason Woodbury]

Yeah, Easily agreed.

[Evan]

One of the great discographies, one of the great collections of records of all time. And hats off to them all. Nobody like the Beach Boys.

[Ian]

For better or for worse. That's right. There will never be another Beach Boys.

[Evan]

Jokerman. It.