Skip or Repeat

In Part 5, Bryan Hall and I wrap up our track-by-track review of Summer in Paradise and try to make sense of the last half of the album. Along the way, we wrestle with eco-anthems, doo-wop detours, and some baffling production choices. Then we zoom out to ask the bigger questions: What was this album trying to be? What did it mean for The Beach Boys? And how did Mike Love end up both steering the ship and setting it on fire? Is the album a skip or repeat? Listen to find out. Want to rediscove...

In part 4 we begin our track-by-track review of Summer in Paradise, breaking down the first half of the album. Bryan and I talk through lyrics, production, intentions, and what it all says about where the band was in 1992. Somehow it gets more confusing the deeper you go. Want to rediscover The Beach Boys before this series? I made a playlist to get you all caught up. Listen on Apple Music or Spotify. Listen to Summer in Paradise on YouTube here, or in high quality here. (It's not on any stre...

Part 3 takes us inside the making of Summer in Paradise, where we get some questionable decisions made leading up to the storm... We look at how Mike and Terry assembled a committee to write and record a “definitive soundtrack of summer,” complete with covers, hip hop beats, metal guitars, and lyrics about saving the planet. Sort of. Want to rediscover The Beach Boys before this series? I made a playlist to get you all caught up. Listen on Apple Music or Spotify. Listen to Summer in Paradise ...

In Part 2, I'm joined by Bryan Hall as we explore how The Beach Boys got here... from the success of "Kokomo" to the idea that they could maybe keep the train rolling without Brian Wilson. We talk about the state of the band in the early '90s, the missing voices, the strange optimism, and how Terry Melcher and Mike Love ended up behind the wheel. Want to rediscover The Beach Boys before this series? I made a playlist to get you all caught up. Listen on Apple Music or Spotify. Listen to ...

In our 4th series, we're tackling The Beach Boys 1992 album Summer in Paradise with guest Bryan Hall. In Part 1, we go back to the early days of The Beach Boys to understand how one of America’s most innovative bands slowly transformed into a nostalgia act. We'll trace the group’s rise, Brian Wilson’s brilliance (and burnout), and how Mike Love managed to keep the name alive long enough to eventually... do this... thing. Want to rediscover The Beach Boys before this series? I made a playlist ...