ALBUM REVIEW: The Beach Boys - Surfin' U.S.A

    So maybe the group's first album doesn't grab me, so what? Second time around usually sees improvement, and I'm a big proponent of the sophomore album being an improvement - friendly reminder that Strange Days is my favorite Doors album, after all. I'm here to confirm that, yes, The Beach Boys' second studio album is largely an improvement over their debut, if only for the fact that a good amount of the bad ideas that plagued the filler moments on Surfin' Safari are absent from this album. However, this album itself has it's own set of weak points that hold themself unique to this release, and issues that I all but hope to rip a new asshole to later in this write-up. Getting that brief negativity out of the way, the Boys are nonetheless growing on this release, as the production becomes more fine-tuned, as well as the songwriting craft of Mike Love and Brian Wilson, who write some of the group's finer early material on this release. What it lacks in some areas, it makes up for in the more clear-cut professionalism of the sound, making for a noticeable, albeit somewhat marginal, growth in the album's quality.

    Right out the gate, I'm gonna hit on this album's weakest aspect - five of the 12 songs on this 23 minute album are instrumental tracks. This may not sound like that big of a deal, but when The Beach Boys have spent the better part of 60 years selling themselves on the harmonies, to the point where a drunken Mike Love would rave about the group's harmonies during his infamous Rock Hall speech, it leaves a lot to be desired. This isn't to say that the group can't do good instrumentals, as moments like "Summer Means New Love" on Summer Days or the title track of Pet Sounds have shown that Brian Wilson is more than capable of writing some excellent instrumental numbers; however, when most of these are just a standard 12-bar pattern with little variation, it makes the album feel stale to say the least. Even the covers of notable surf staples like "Misirlou" feel tired, as a song like this isn't good because it's unique - it's good because it's pretty much just "Misirlou" as is without any changes. These instrumentals make the album feel half-finished at points, as if Mike forgot to add lyrics to "Honky Tonk."

    In spite of those weak elements, there's still an increasing maturity to the group's sound here - most notably, this is the first album where Brian double-tracks the vocals, creating an added warmth and richness to the vocal harmonies that truly gives the Boys their reputation for harmonies. The album also continues to show the emotional growth of Wilson as a composer, with a song like "Lonely Sea" having an added urgency and beauty that Brian would further refine on songs like "In My Room" and "Please Let Me Wonder." Outside of beautiful moments like that and the semi-sublime "Farmer's Daughter," you have the fast-paced numbers, which also improve on everything from their debut. The title track is pretty infamously a ripoff of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," but you can't beat those harmonies - an excellent sounding Weird Al parody. "Shut Down" is a great fast paced number with hints of "409" from the last album, but decisively more captivating and well-produced. I also have to give an honorable mention to the solid, albeit goofy, closing track that is "Finders Keepers," as well as the deep cut "Lana," which I think has an excellent vocal performance from Brian coupled with some great backing vocals.

    Baby steps, eh? Nothing on Surfin' U.S.A is necessarily groundbreaking, even for 1963. Looking back with the Beach Boys catalog in mind, however, and you see prototype ideas that would form into their most acclaimed aspects. The production is sharper, the songwriting is improved, and overall everything just sounds better on what is a shorter, more concise album. Of course, the baffling decision to make almost half of the album instrumental holds this one back from being a huge step up from their debut, but there's enough about this release that takes the good ideas of Safari and improves upon it to call this a step in the right direction. While I think this is still a die-hard only kinda deal, a casual listener should find more than a few things that keep them interested in this release, and that's more than what I think I could say for their debut. 

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Surfin' U.S.A.