June Mix - 5. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

For the fifth song of June, I figured we could use some more "traditional" summer flavor. So who better to bring the quintessential summer sounds than The Beach Boys? I picked this track because it's one of my favorite Beach Boy songs, but it was also brought to mind while reading a recent feature on the theremin. "Good Vibrations" comes from 1967'sSmiley Smile, the follow-up to what a lot of people consider the best record of all time - Pet Sounds. The mostly disappointing album Smiley Smile was recorded after the original follow-up, Smile collapsed in production. "Good Vibrations" was one of the bright spots on this record, and provided The Beach Boys with something that came rare in their career, experimentation that came with commercial success. The single went on to sell over a million copies and has a featured theremin (thus upping the irony of the song's theme by featuring an instrument that isn't even touched.) Check out this promo video that was filmed for the song - it's either really trippy or really goofy, I can't tell - but that goes for most of the material these guys ever put out.