If The Ruby Suns set themselves up as a Beach Boys tribute band (Karekare Beach Boys, possibly), and ran through Pet Sounds and Best of The Beach Boys, they couldn't sound more derivative. The New Zealand octet have changed a few notes here and there, presumably to avoid any direct copyright issues, but otherwise The Ruby Suns comes off like the Love album's updating of the Beatles. That's not, necessarily, a bad thing.

If you like The Beach Boys, help yourself to this reverential disc - even for a dedicated 60s-head, there's little 21st centuriness to get in the way of your beach sounds. On the other hand, if you'd like to see a band try a little harder to come up with something than dig out an 8-track machine, stay away. One man's beach barbie is another's smokey annoyance. There is plenty of listenable summery pop on offer, but it's just not the best summery pop out there.

3/5

Mike Rea