The Beach Boys album John Carpenter thinks is superior to ‘Pet Sounds’: “An all-time great”
The Beach Boys are one of those bands who have an undisputed magnum opus. A feat in pop composition and an enduringly gorgeous listen over half a century after its first release, Pet Sounds remains not only the most important record in the Beach Boys’ catalogue but one of the most influential albums of all time.
A precursor to chamber pop, Pet Sounds paired lush, orchestral compositions with off-kilter instrumentation. It spawned several all-time greats, including the bright ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ and the iconic ‘God Only Knows’, with the latter even taking the title of Paul McCartney’s favourite song of all time. But the lesser-known tracks were no less gorgeous – ‘Let’s Go Away For Awhile’, is a calming instrumental compo, while ‘Here Today’ is dense and dramatic.
Almost 60 years on, Pet Sounds still maintains relevance in contemporary culture. The album has influenced countless other bands, still finds its way onto movie soundtracks, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time. But while it might be the Wilson brothers’ most respected and revered work, filmmaker John Carpenter prefers a slightly later offering from the Californian harmonisers.
In the years that followed Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys released a number of albums, including 1967’s Smiley Smile and Friends. Five years and five albums after their magnum opus, they delivered Carpenter’s favourite. During an appearance on Amoeba’s ‘What’s In My Bag?’ series, the Halloween director picked out the 1971 album Surf’s Up, deeming it an “all-time great Beach Boys album”.
“Not as well-known as some of their other stuff,” Carpenter admitted, “but it’s a great album.” From the title of the album, Surf’s Up seemed to mark a return to the Beach Boys’ roots – to tales of Californian surf, sea and sun. But the thematic focus of the album was more true to the dark, gloomy artwork than to its title.
“Don’t go near the water,” they harmonise on the opening track, “toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath, so let’s avoid an ecological aftermath.” Immediately, the album tackles more serious topics than some of their other work, delving into environmentalism and pollution with strange, altered vocals.
Though the record would not receive the same acclaim or admiration as Pet Sounds, it’s easy to see why Carpenter believed it to be an all-time great. As Brian Wilson took more of a backseat, the album showed a slightly different side to the Beach Boys while maintaining their distinctive sonic charm.
Carpenter was particularly enthusiastic about one song, ‘Feel Flows’. Over transcendental synths, layered vocals, and a cutting guitar line, the lyrics chart “white hot glistening shadowy flows.” It’s certainly a stand-out track on the album, an echoey, entrancing encapsulation of this new sound.
Surf’s Up may not have a ‘God Only Knows’ equivalent. It may not have had the same impact on music history as Pet Sounds, and it may not have appeared in quite as many lists collating the greatest albums of all time, but it’s a gorgeously gloomy collection of songs that provides a different side to the Beach Boys. Like its predecessor, it still holds up today, especially in Carpenter’s eyes.
