[.ca] Surfer Girl/V2 Shut Down

From Amazon.com:
Surfer Girl may have been the band's third album release, but it was the first to bear the imprimatur of founder and creative mainstay Brian Wilson as producer, and the difference is palpable from the confident opening tracks onward. That one-two combo, "Surfer Girl" and "Catch a Wave," also effectively serves as the blueprint for much of the Beach Boys' subsequent sound. On the former, Wilson's falsetto soars over a tender, yet musically sophisticated, ballad, while the latter features Mike Love's trademark twang urgently proselytizing SoCal surf, both over band harmonies that seemed to grow tighter and more adventurous with every cut. That artistic axis is revisited yet again on "Little Deuce Coupe" and "In My Room," the latter ballad showcasing Wilson's full artistic arsenal and giving an early glimpse into his introspective soul. The curiously titled "Shut Down, Part II" (a de facto sequel to an earlier hit EP) sought to further the band beyond its ironic sea-and-sun fetish (none but Dennis Wilson ever surfed) into the burgeoning hot-rod subculture as well. The results were understandably uneven, but the high points remain nothing short of spectacular, including the Love-propelled "Fun, Fun, Fun," Wilson's knowing nod to Phil Spector, "Don't Worry Baby," and the underrated "The Warmth of the Sun." Bonus cuts include the single mix of "Fun, Fun, Fun," a German-language version of "In My Room," and the previously unreleased, largely experimental "I Do" by Wilson and Love. Brian offers up a brief commentary on both albums in the notes, while David Leaf (author of the pioneering bio The Beach Boys and the California Myth) documents the music track-by-track. --Jerry McCulley

Not happy with the 2001 2 fers:
I have a 1990 2 fer CD and like the sound better then the 2001 release. The reason being on the 2001 releases there is alot of hiss or background noise on the tracks which I find annoying. Even after adjusting the treble I could still hear it. It sounds like the old cassette tapes without dolby. After reading the booklets that are included it states on the 1990 release that noise reduction technology was used. The 2001 release clearly does not mention anything about noise reduction technology being used. I am now searching out the older 1990 versions. MK

VERY FUN PAIRING ON ONE DISC:
Surfer Girl/Vol.2-Shut Down is a fun compilation of some of the Beach Boys' earliest works. With 27 tracks for the price of 1 CD, this is a real bargain. Included are the all-time favorite oldies Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Fun Fun Fun and Don't Worry Baby. Also contained in these volumes are their versions of the standards Louie Louie and Why Do Fools Fall in Love. Nice vocals and harmonies are the Beach Boys' trademarks, and they permeate throughout this whole collection. Added in are recorded dialogues where the Beach Boys, at their most genial, mimic one another while throwing in a few occasional, and somewhat annoying, falsettos. Though it is more than worth its price, it is not exactly of the same caliber as Pet Sounds (Millions of other great releases have this shortcoming in common). But hey, they were obviously having fun. Thankfully, the Beach Boys will always be regarded as one of the greatest popular groups of all time, for there is no doubt that they faced many stressful moments being identitied as the Beatles' American counterparts under the very same recording label, namely Capitol/EMI.

Imagining Teenage Heaven:
Pressured on multiple fronts, Brian Wilson somehow managed to create a California utopia that he rarely if ever inhabited himself. Though his wounded spirit fills "In My Room, the "Surfer Girl" album essentially serves as soundtrack for Dennis, the younger brother Nick Kent once described as "shiftless and dumb as hell." Cars and perky girls dominate "Shut Down Volume 2," which features the incomparable "Don't Worry Baby." Wilson is at his most transcendent when trying to twist a lid on fear and doubt. "The Warmth of the Sun," written at the time of JFK's assassination, is a perfect song, sweet sadness and longing transformed into the kind of beauty that defies description. Early Beach Boys albums obviously pack the filler, but hearing the hits in their original context has its place. And occasionally there's an overlooked gem. The achingly gorgeous "Your Summer Dream," with its soft strumming and first flush of a crush chord changes, deserves to be plucked from anonymity. Like the other Beach Boys twofers, this one has a booklet full of great photographs and song rundowns, Capitol having had the good sense to honor America's greatest pop band with suitably attractive packaging.

I ate my words!:
I'm a big Beach Boys fan,but I consider myself a fan of their later materiel where Brian took control and things got introspective and lush.I didn't think much of the first few albums where simple rockers ruled.I figured I had enough of all that via a lifetime of that stuff pounded into my mind from the radio.Well,I was wrong!These are the 3rd and 4th albums and they're great!Yeah,there are the simple rockers we all know by heart,but there is so much more to offer.You have the sublime bliss of SURFER GIRL,DON'T WORRY BABY,THE WARMTH OF THE SUN and more,plus the vocals are top notch in every cut.

Dos en uno, aunque apenas hagan uno:
El tercer album del grupo no es un gran aporte aunque si posea cierta regularidad y un importante crecimiento composicional por parte de Brian Wilson. En contra, bastante poca variedad, que parte con el hecho de titular 5 canciones con la exasperante palabra surfer. El tema que da título al álbum e In my Room son dos baladas calcadas bien logradas, pero Brian repite la fórmula casi sin variaciones otras 2 veces, saturando un poco en el camino. Catch A Wave y Little Deuce Coupe son dos de los mejores temas movidos, sin ser tampoco muy brillantes dentro de su primera etapa. Los 2 instrumentales (Rocking Surfer y Boogie Woodie) se acercan al sonido de grupos como Chantays o Lively Ones y al menos le dan otro matiz al sonido, con dinámicos órganos y un rápido ritmo. Es claro que los Beach Boys aún están en una fase de priorizar los singles y echar mano a mucho material de segundo nivel en sus LP's. En cambio, Shut Down Vol. 2 si es un disco disparejo, donde los mejores temas estan muy por encima del típico relleno. Fun Fun Fun es el punto de partida, puro Chuck Berry adaptado al sonido surf y la magnífica Don't Worry Baby es la mejor balada de sus primeros años. Aunque aún hay un par de lentos (The Warmth of the Sun y Keep an Eye on Summer) a considerar y un buen instrumental (Shut Down, Pt. 2), el grupo vuelve a la realidad y cae en experimentos sin sentido como el collage "Cassius" Love Vs. "Sonny" Wilson y Denny's Drums, esta última apenas un simple solo de batería. Los covers de Why Do Fools Fall in Love? y en especial la opaca Louie, Louie son para el olvido. Como la mayoría de las canciones destacadas se pueden encontrar en sus numerosas recopilaciones, este par de discos se puede pasar perfectamente por alto, a menos que seas un seguidor convencido de los Beach Boys. Aunque lo de dos en uno siempre va a ser una atractiva oferta (21/2 estrellas para cada uno).

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