STILL ON THAT TANGENT

Goddamn.  I try to mix it up, really I do.  Ordinarily I'd follow up a post about Brian Wilson with something completely different.  But, because that sort of mood hadn't yet fully subsided, I went to look one last time for the (until today) elusive Wondermints.  (Obviously, I found some.)  Members of the Wondermints have been working with Brian Wilson for the past several years.  The last time they released something under the Wondermints name was six or seven years ago.  But before that, they put out some good pop records, very much under the spell of the Wilsonian vibe.  They're sound disciples of Wilson's.  And, here's the big one, they are largely to thank for Brian Wilson's musical health.  They not only keep him active, with their seemingly on-call availability, but they help steer him away from bad ideas (because, let's face it, there have Brian Wilson stinkers), and were involved in getting Smile reconstructed as accurately as possible (more on that here).  But, before that, they sporadically recorded and made some pop music so fine, I couldn't quite figure out what quality that they had, that others lacked.  You know what I think it is?  It's because they're geeks.  Geeks that happen to be very musically gifted.  They probably won't ever be full-on pop stars, as in huge, because, when it all comes down to it, they are music geeks first.  That's what I like about them.  

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Wondermints - Arnaldo Said mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Tracy Hide mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Don't Go Breaking My Heart mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - Sweetness mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - If I Were You mp3 at Electricity
The Wondermints - In a Haze mp3 at Electricity
Video:
The Wondermints - Shine On Me at YouTube
Brian Wilson with assorted Wondermints - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (2002) at YouTube
Visit:
Darian Sahanaja interview at Aquarium Drunkard Details about his role in the reconstruction of Smile
Darian Sahanaja at Wikipedia
The Wondermints at Wikipedia
Smile - LP entry at Wikipedia
Related:
Other Beach Boys related posts here