Production-wise, Summer Days fits snugly in between the styles of the baroque-leaning, maximalist pop sound of Today! and the earlier production style of an album like All Summer Long. Part of this is purely off of the album leaning more towards the themes and style of their earlier career, but of course there are defining moments that go against this grain - "Let Him Run Wild" is a song that, production-wise, leans far closer to a certain Beach Boys album that would release following year than anything else on the album. Nevertheless, the mesh of old and new production on this album is certainly still polished and clean sounding, especially on some of the bigger moments from the album. The opening track of "The Girl from New York City" perfectly meshes the confident, clean sound with the group's old surf rock sound - part of it is the guitar tone, but still. From start to finish, it's a crisp, clean sounding album, and is up there as one of the best-sounding from the group.
The real bread and butter of the album is the songs, though, and this is one of the most stacked track listings for any pop album. Brian Wilson and Mike Love are to be truly commended on this album, as they ascend to pop masterclass on this album with their ability to churn out nothing but hit songs, even if it was by record label demand - look no further than the iconic "California Girls," easily of the group's most infallible songs. Legend has it that Mike Love wrote the lyrics for the song in his car on the way to the studio, and while the lyrics aren't necessarily deep, they are very effective pop lyricism - it only makes sense that it would become one of The Beach Boys' most iconic moments, and it helps that the instrumentation is one of the most lush, distinct sounding in their entire catalog. "Help Me, Rhonda" became the group's second number one, and it's similarly clean, confident, and lush sounding. Aside from the big hits, I found some personal love for tracks like the ode to Salt Lake City that is... well... "Salt Lake City," and the fun, lighthearted "Amusement Parks U.S.A." Side B contains some beautiful moments as well, like the instrumental "Summer Means New Love," and the a capella closer "And Your Dream Comes True," the latter of which is one of my favorite moments from the group - whenever they go a capella, it's just beautiful. I'm of course skipping over other moments like the cover of Spector's "Then I Kissed Her" and the Carl-led "Girl Don't Tell Me," both of which are great pop tunes in their own right. The few low moments are songs that just don't quite click, mainly the piano-led, almost minimalist "I'm Bugged at My Old Man," seemingly a goofy front for the real abuse that Brian faced under his father Murray. Lyrically, it's far more deep than most of the stuff on Summer Days, but I personally find it too empty and dark to really enjoy it.
The Beach Boys did a fairly impressive thing here - they were perfectly able to balance the demands for more hits with their artistic growth and vision, and it doesn't even sound like they're burnt out! Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) is the maximalist view of the group's pop leanings, with fun songs about girls and amusement parks and California through and through. It's an album that I've always had a big soft-spot for, and if you're looking for the group at their pop-centered peak, than this is the album for you. In my mind, this is peak pop Beach Boys; lush, beautiful sounds over a romanticized vision of California. The ethos of the group's early years.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).
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