Review of Do It Again: A Tribute To The Beach Boys Album by

Various Artists
Do It Again: A Tribute To The Beach Boys
Album Review

 Do It Again: A Tribute To The Beach Boys Album

Tributes can be played straight, or, as here, artists can offer up their own take on something that inspired them. Whether that works or not depends on how cohesive the artists are as a collection, which is where this alterna-American indie album falls down. Some interpretations of the songs on what (most critics agree) may be one of the best albums ever are just plain awdu.

Daniel Johnston absolutely murders (in a bad way) God Only Knows, Vic Chesnutt seems to be taking the mickey out of You Still Believe in Me and Architecture in Helsinki render Pet Sounds unrecognisable. Thank heavens for Centro-matic's touching, gentle and gorgeous take on Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder), Mazarin's reverential I Know There's An Answer and Micah P Hinson's Waiting For The Day. Overall, this is a mess of an album - Beach Boys completists will be rightly upset at some of the treatments, and fans of any of the artists involved will have to endure a whole lot of nonsense.

2.5/5

Mike Rea

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