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dean_martin
06-22-2009, 09:19 AM
sorry if I'm a little behind the times, but I'm wondering who deserves credit for bringing back Beach Boys-like harmonies.

I recently picked up the latest Animal Collective. On first listen what struck me was the soundscapes. On second listen the Beach Boys-like harmonies really jumped out at me.

I got Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear's latest for Father's Day. I've listened to most of the Fleet Foxes album and noted the Beach Boys harmonies. Haven't listened to the new Grizzly Bear yet, but from what I've read it has it too.

So who or what group brought this sound back and when?

3LB
06-22-2009, 12:27 PM
Prince himself paid homage to psyhcedelia on his Around The World In A Day album (1984). XTC did an album of psychedelic pop back in the '80s under the name Dukes Of Stratosphere (1987), some of which bled over onto their Oranges & Lemons album. Some time in the '90s, groups like Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips flirted with the style, followed somewhat by bands like Polyphonic Spree and Grandaddy (though not so much in vox w/ Grandaddy). While some of so called post-punk garage band revivalists copied critical darlings like The Stooges or The Clash, The Vines toyed with psychedelic or acid pop to an extent earlier this decade, at least on their first two albums (kinda like a grunge version of The Zombies, but not as good).

That's just my limited experience, I'm sure there are corrections and addendums coming my way ;) I'm not sure psychedelic pop ever went away come to think of it.

MindGoneHaywire
06-22-2009, 02:18 PM
I'd point to the Hoodoo Gurus, to an extent, Matthew Sweet, and the Wondermints.

MasterCylinder
06-23-2009, 12:02 PM
I don't have an answer to your question but I was reminded about an interview I saw with Brian WIlson many years ago before he lost his mind...............he was asked what the secret formula was to get the Beach Boys sound ?

His reply :

There is no secret -- you steal the vocal harmonies of THE FOUR FRESHMEN (1948) and combine it with simple 4/4 pop beats and write lyrics associated with girls, cars or the beach...............that's it.

dean_martin
06-23-2009, 12:23 PM
The 3 or 4 new (to me) bands I've been checking out lately seem to be direct descendants of Pet Sounds. I'm pleasantly surprised but at the same time I'm thinking I missed something along the way (like the development of a recent trend or movement).

3LB
06-23-2009, 01:12 PM
Music trends these days come out of nowhere it seems, and are gone before you know it. Wait until you here some of the "new" stoner and acid rock bands that are coming out ;)

Crystal Caravan
Diagonal
Black Mountain
prolly a dozen others

all sound like they coulda come from the early '70s - they're slightly psychedelic, but in the way that Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin was, not the Beach Boys or early Floyd.

New trends seem to stem from the next wave of kids old enough to start playing mom or dad's vinyl.

dean_martin
06-23-2009, 01:25 PM
Music trends these days come out of nowhere it seems, and are gone before you know it. Wait until you here some of the "new" stoner and acid rock bands that are coming out ;)

Crystal Caravan
Diagonal
Black Mountain
prolly a dozen others

all sound like they coulda come from the early '70s - they're slightly psychedelic, but in the way that Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin was, not the Beach Boys or early Floyd.

New trends seem to stem from the next wave of kids old enough to start playing mom or dad's vinyl.

if these kids have turntables, they can't be all bad. I'll keep an ear out.