Album: Surfer Girl
Released: September 16, 1963
Label: Capitol
Producer: Brian Wilson
Given how much I love the Surfer Girl single, it shouldn’t really be a surprise that I adore the album as well. In this series, I’ve been talking a lot about how the Beach Boys are, bit by bit, putting all the pieces together in their sound and making incremental improvements with every single and album. This feels like the first (of many) high water marks for the group, where the early sound really comes out on pretty much every song. Having Brian officially produce a whole album adds neat bits hear and there, and generally coaxes out a livelier and more well rounded sound from the band than we saw on their first two long players. The Beach Boys Universe is in full effect on the album too, from local surfer heroes to escapes to tropical islands to hot cars and summer dreams. There were really only ever a handful of albums that really epitomized what people think of when they think of a “Beach Boys album” and this is one of them.
So, onto the songs. I already covered the title track lead off, Surfer Girl, in my review of the single so I won’t get into it too much here. But it’s still a favorite, and plays a somewhat unusual album opener - being a bit slower than the usual rocker that opens albums up. Great choice, tho. Catch a Wave follows, and it’s a gem. Good rocking fun, with nice flourishes like hand clapping percussion, which suggest Brian and the band are feeling a bit more ambitious. Some killer guitar licks, top form singing, and triumphant lyrics make this a classic. I love the triumphant tone of the song, particularly from lyrics about critics (of surfing) eating their words with a fork a spoon (and then coming out surfing themselves. Converts!). Good stuff.
The Surfer Moon follows, and it’s another one of those gorgeous Brian Wilson-sung numbers. The first use of strings in a Beach Boys song, the song exudes time and place, giving the listener a bittersweet taste of the Beach Boys world. South Bay Surfer is a lively follow up, doing more of that great myth-making that was part of the early Beach Boys stock and trade. A nice minor addition to the Beach Boys catalog.
The Beach Boys then give us the instrumental, The Rocking Surfer, which is a Brian arrangement of a traditional tune. Nice while you’re listening, but mostly forgettable. The A-side of the album closes out with the immense Little Deuce Coupe. I discussed it a little in my entry for the “Surfer Girl” single and I’ll have another word or two to say about it on the next entry into this series, but suffice to say that it’s a great song and a strong way to close out what is easily the best side of Beach Boys vinyl up to this point.
The B-side of the album opens with the ridiculously excellent In My Room. I’ve talked about the Beach Boys Universe and the little slice of Americana they’re trying to portray, and while this song ostensibly fits into that project, it’s really working on another level. This is probably the first song where Brian is really opening up his inner world to the listener, in the process creating some of the most beautiful music he’ll ever have his name attached to and singing one of his finest vocal leads. Gorgeous, personal and emotionally moving. It feels all at once like we’ve glimpsed a very private moment in someone else’s life and yet still saw our own image reflected back at us. Genius.
There aren’t a whole lot of songs that can follow that, but Hawaii does its best. An insidiously catchy number - with a chorus that you won’t be able to get out of your head for the rest of the day - and a lyrical focus that helps extend the world of the Beach Boys off the continent. One of the things I liked about the song “Surfin’ U.S.A.” was the way it connected what the Beach Boys were banging on about in their songs to a more universal American experience. This song helps do that same thing, albeit in a more limited sense.
Surfer’s Rule follows, which is in the same triumphant vein as “Catch a Wave”, albeit a bit less ambitious musically. It features a nice Dennis Wilson lead, tho, so it’s worth seeking out for that. Our Car Club is, well, another car song. A fun track that fits the mood of the album, but doesn’t seem to do much outside of that context. Your Summer Dream is a beautiful, understated ballad by Brian Wilson and would have been an excellent way to close the album. That’s not really the Beach Boys style tho, so instead they tack on Boogie Woodie which is a fun but incredibly silly organ-centric, well, boogie. I actually think it would have been better to flip it in the track order with “Your Summer Dream” where it would have seemed like just another fine instrumental, but it’s a bit of an odd choice to close out the album.
The Beach Boys have a definite sound on their first three albums, one they refine with each outing until they end up with the Surfer Girl LP. Here they’ve refined their techniques from their first two albums and have begun the first stabs at setting even more ambitious goals, musically and lyrically. They’ll make a few more fine albums in this mold (which we’ll look at in future entries), but to my mind this album is one of two standard-bearers for the “surfing, cars, and girls” phase of the Beach Boys. The other is still several releases away.
Since “In My Room” will feature on another single entry, here’s “The Surfer Moon” instead:
The Surfer Moon-
(Available on Surfer Girl/Shut Down, Vol. 2)
