Surfer Girl

Bruce Beatlefan (January 14, 2008)

When I think of the Beach Boys, the image that always pops into my mind is the album cover to Surfer Girl, certainly their most iconic album sleeve, picturing the five bandmembers walking down the beach carrying their 'nine five' (from left to right, Dennis W., David Marks, Carl W., Mike Love, and Brian W.; curiously, Alan Jardine gets his first songwriting credit on this album but is not deemed worthy of making the picture!)

The Beach Boy's third album, Surfer Girl, once again gives pre-eminence to surfing music, and once again succeeds its predecessor (Surfin' USA) by a short time interval (this time, six months). But it is no mere recycle of the same formula. Brian Wilson, despite his young age (just turned 21), is given carte blanche to write, arrange, and produce the music (it is at this time when he begins to curtail his touring due to these increased demands), and the result is a tangible step up from the first two Beach Boys efforts.

Many of the established Beach Boys archetypes are re-affirmed in this record and some new ones are created: once again we see a surfing A-side backed by a hot-rodding B-Side ("Surfer Girl"/"Little Deuce Coupe"). We see Mike Love's upbeat fun ethic ("Hawaii", "Catch a Wave") vying with Brian Wilson's more reflective sensitivity ("In My Room", "Your Summer Dream"). The powerful in-group teen comeraderie which makes their music to powerful is strongly expressed in "South Bay Surfer" and "Our Car Club".

Three new features which begin to show themselves in this album are (1) the yearning ballads of Brian Wilson, hinted at with "Lonely Sea" in the previous album, are presented in full force here with the songs opening each side: "Surfer Girl" and "In My Room", two of the loveliest songs Brian Wilson has ever written. (2) Two Brian Wilson-written instrumentals ("Rocking Surfer" and "Boogie Woodie") which are not surf songs, but rather are keyboards-driven and much more interesting listens than those heard in previous albums. Finally, (3) We can begin to definitely track Brian Wilson's gradual artistic move toward his watershed Pet Sounds album with two songs ("Surfer Moon" and "Your Summer Dream") which feature him singing by himself (a first in the Beach Boys' library), with the kind of complex chord changes and orchestration that is to increasingly play a role in his music.

Surfer Girl demonstrates that the Beach Boys are equal to the task of producing two albums a year (the ante is dramatically raised in their next album--made the following month!), with demonstrable growth in the quality of their music making and performances. This is their first great album.