Sax von Stroheim writes:

The Beach Boys’ second Hot Rod Album.

The original Shut Down was a compilation put out by Capitol Records containing a bunch of hot rod songs, including two by the Beach Boys.

A greater album than Little Deuce Coupe: this is an Existentialist Hot Rod Album that wrestles with deep metaphysical concepts. I.e., what is this thing we call fun?

It includes their greatest car song: inverting the bravado of “Shut Down” and “Little Deuce Coupe”, an expression of vulnerability and a reminder that a girl can give you things a car can’t. “She makes me come alive/She makes me want to drive/When she says ‘Don’t worry, baby…/Everything will turn out alright.’”

“This Car of Mine” doesn’t necessarily cover any new ground, though it has a great vocal from Dennis Wilson (who wasn’t as committed to the band at this point, and didn’t have as prominent a role on the records).

And then the songs that aren’t about cars. “The Warmth of the Sun”, another melancholy ballad, where the singer, having lost his girlfriend, holds onto the hope that his idealized love for her will be enough. Good luck with that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGxldiWVvF0

Though it isn’t the last track on the album, “Keep an Eye on Summer” really closes out this period in the Beach Boys’ career. It points ahead to the terrain they would cover in their next three albums: dramatizing the realization that time passes, the future is uncertain, and the fun, fun, fun of teenage life is fleeting. “Soon we’ll be graduating/And we’ll be so far apart/And though you could be dating/I’m waiting and waiting:”

And watch out: “Beatlemania” is coming.

Related

• My other posts on the Beach Boys’ albums can be found here.