Surfin' Safari review

The first studio album of one of America's most iconic bands, The Beach Boys. Currently my main memory of this band is the way a song by them was stupidly played during a James Bond chase sequence. Let's try and change that.

Tracks:

1. Surfin' Safari: 7/10 it's fairly basic and unsophisticated but it's so full of glee and enthusiasm that it's hard to resist.

2. County Fair: 8/10 a slightly less one note song, with its catchy baseline and nice atmosphere. It tells a fairly straightforward story but it tells it decently enough.

3. Ten Little Indians: 7/10 it covers the same themes and the song doesn't always make sense but its speed and those strong harmonies more than keep it afloat.

4. Chug-A-Lug: 6/10 a good catchy tune but you can't help wishing for some variety.

5. Little Girl (You're My Miss America): 5/10 a pretty mediocre song lifted by the enthusiasm of the band who breathe life into uninspired lyrics.

6. 409: 5/10 a fairly artificial car advert. I think we get enough of those in the pre movie ads at the cinema.

7. Surfin': 6/10 this one's pretty catchy although the opening surfing track is the one people will remember more.

8. Heads You Win Tails I Lose: 6/10 this song is well written but unfortunately it has an exceptionally lazy chorus.

9. Summertime Blues: 8/10 surprisingly intelligent and well written, this is undoubtedly an album highlight.

10. Cuckoo Clock: 7/10 a slightly annoying song where you may need Wikipedia to work out the meaning, but it is catchy and it does make you smile.

11. Moon Dawg: 5/10 an instrumental which is catchy but then exits your mind immediately.

12. The Shift: 5/10 the album finishes with a mundane song about a dress although with the bands instrumentals, which are full of energy, enthusiasm and optimism none of their songs are ever truly boring.

Best song: Summertime Blues
Worst song: 409

Summary: I'm not sure this is particularly compelling stuff. Centring on the same themes again and again and failing to vary its sounds enough, this is overly simplistic and in general isn't very striking. Still, it's light hearted fun and it's only 25 minutes long so if you've got nothing to do this is a perfectly passable album. For The Beach Boys, the better stuff evidently came later.

Final rating: 5/10