Pocket Symphony: A Beach Boys Podcast

Dedicated to Melinda Ledbetter Wilson (1946 - 2024) "In a perfect world, things would end when every piece lines up perfectly, making us feel okay enough to let go. But in reality —as is the case with The Beach Boys— things go on for too long. We overstay our welcomes. And we learn to look back on the highs, even if we spend a lot of our lives experiencing the lows. This is one of those rare times...

"Of course there's the surf rock years and Pet Sounds and their resurgence in the '80s, but contrary to popular belief, the Beach Boys did not just disappear when Brian retreated into his bedroom after the failure of SMiLE. In fact, some of the most provocative work that the band has ever done was released during this time." The seventies were tough on everyone: Nixon was president, the country wa...

"For all of its legendary reputation, the one thing that's always bothered me about the SMiLE story was the image that it left behind: Brian, the sole genius, left tortured by his gifts and completely alone, his tribute to America left unfinished. But he was never really alone, was he?" Goodbye Surfing, Hello God! SMiLE was supposed to be the magnum opus of its 24-year-old "genius" creator Brian W...

"Mike sees the Beach Boys' ability to play for Republican and Democratic presidents as key to their longevity, but as the country becomes more divided, it's their biggest weakness. It's the reason why the Mike and Brian wars were always bigger than each of them. They're just Hawaiian-shirt clad symbols in a wider schism in American culture, but they're also two sides of the same coin." We've been...

"While Disney's California Adventure abandoned the Golden State, Mike Love is reconstructing California in his mind." Fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight, because this slow-moving dark ride through the history of California has sudden stops, drops, facts, a looooot of fiction, and a rock-n-roll soundtrack to boot! Rosie takes Krista on an unsanctioned tour through the history of California's o...

"Much like Brian, we've been through a tumultuous time period that challenged us emotionally, mentally, and creatively. Our unexpected hiatus was much needed, though — partially to get our ducks back in a row, and partially to create an air of mystery around our disappearance. Where did they go? Maybe we'll never know…" You may have doubted us but we never doubted ourselves. After a three year (mo...

"Kind of wild that every major public update on Brian's well-being occurs on the Beach Boys' album cycle, almost like the capitalist desire to keep him working overrides the desire to keep him healthy. Makes you think, huh?" CW: This episode deals with the subject of physical and mental abuse. The movie LOVE & MERCY details some of that abuse, and those scenes will be recapped in this episode. It'...

"Rolling Stone is no longer like 50 Cameron Crowes, extolling the 'never to be experienced again' majesty of the 70s rock age to anyone curious about music history." Today, Pet Sounds is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time, but it was met with a lukewarm response from American audiences. Since then, there have been many theories as to why: band infighting, bad marketing,...

"We've come a long way from Hawthorne, California, and now the Boys are handing over their literal likenesses to a company that's willing to give them the Tupac treatment so that Mike Love can finally put the band to rest." Oh no! The podcast has gone on so long that we're now in the later, more commercial stages of our career! 2021 marks sixty years of the Beach Boys and ongoing efforts to capita...

"Resurrected like some Hawaiian shirt-clad phoenix every ten years or so, the Beach Boys became the act as synonymous to boomer nostalgia as the Beatles are to youth counterculture." As soon as Beatlemania hit US airwaves, the Beach Boys were pitted against the mop-topped Fab Four… even though the Beach Boys formed first. Throughout the early 60s, the bands exchanged iconic albums like knock-out p...

"They take up the mantle of being 'America's band' while writing albums overseas, and secure that reputation by becoming peak boomer nostalgia music for an era where gas was cheap, roads were wide open, and the ocean was a playground if you had the privilege of rebellion." Don't touch that dial! We're about to put you onto some hot rod music. The Beach Boys hit it big by riding the wave — pun full...

"There's drugs, there's sex, there's girls! There's an evil psychiatrist who tries to take over his life! There's marriage and divorce and family drama and cousins trying to sue each other. There's intergenerational trauma, fast cars, there's John Stamos, and very questionable haircuts! What more could you want? You could not write a fiction this compelling if you tried!" You know 'em, you love 'e...

"Discovering the Beach Boys' music has only made my love for other things stronger. I've learned to love so many other types of art, music, movies because of discovering this band." Even if you don't know the Beach Boys, you probably know their signature tune "California Girls." But, who exactly are the California Girls... and why are they hosting a podcast? Rosie and Krista discuss the California...

"Part movie watch-along and part pop culture deep dive, but mostly an exploration of why we, two Asian-American millennial women, keep talking about a white boy band whose best hits lived and died before we were even born." Best friends Rosie Alejandrino and Krista Kurisaki are experts at falling down internet rabbit holes. So... how did they end up making a narrative podcast about the Beach Boys?...