ALBUM: Brian Wilson, ‘No Pier Pressure’
Oh, the fan controversies that arise when a legacy artist releases a new record. If the new material sounds just like the old songs, do we bask in that familiarity or criticize the artist for becoming complacent? If the artist tries something new, do we offer praise or complaints about experimentation for the sake of experimentation, or do we approach the new sound with an open but still-critical ear? And if the artist attempts to connect with a younger generation, is that connection about being open to new ideas and audiences, or is it a cheap and misguided marketing ploy?
No Pier Pressure, the 11th solo release by Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, and his first album of original material since 2008’s That Lucky Old Sun, has had fans debating these very questions for months. The record comes on the heels of a few tempestuous years for Wilson: the Beach Boys’ 50th anniversary tour, the drama that arose when the Beach Boys touring band continued without Wilson or fellow Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, and 2013’s unlikely and often awkward tour with Jeff Beck.
For all that Brian Wilson has been lauded as a musical genius, his music is often at its best when it’s created with partners, especially partners who can challenge him, like Van Dyke Parks or even Mike Love. Here, Wilson’s working with longtime collaborator Joe Thomas, he of the middle-of-the-road musical sensibilities and penchant for auto-tune. More interestingly, he’s also collaborating with a new generation of pop stars, including She & Him, Nate Ruess, and Kacey Musgraves. And the results are… varied.
The opening track, “This Beautiful Day,” sounds like a leftover from the closing suite of 2012’s Beach Boys reunion record, That’s Why God Made The Radio. Wilson’s voice is ragged and wistful atop a bed of strings, keys, trumpet, and his signature vocal harmonies. But the promise of “This Beautiful Day” gives way immediately to “Runaway Dancer,” a relentless dance track with an incongruous 1980s-style saxophone line and vocals by Sebu Simonian of Capital Cities. It sounds nothing like the rest of the album or like anything Wilson’s recorded before. It’s an interesting musical experiment, but interesting musical experiments don’t always make for good songs.
Other collaborations fare better. Zooey Deschanel turns in some typically sweet vocals on “On the Island,” a song that comes uncomfortably close to channeling “Kokomo” (it even includes a line about “taking it slow”). Nate Ruess of fun. is an excellent vocal match for the agreeably sappy “Saturday Night,” and “Half Moon Bay,” featuring trumpet player Mark Isham, is a lush composition reminiscent of the title track from Pet Sounds. “I Guess You Had To Be There,” a rollicking duet with Kacey Musgraves, is a highlight of the album: its sweet harmonies are augmented by handclaps and banjo, and Wilson’s vocals sound unusually invigorated. But then there’s “Our Special Love,” with former The Sing-Off contestant Peter Hollens on multi-tracked vocals — it starts out promisingly, but once Hollens starts singing, the song can’t help but sound like a college a cappella group’s cover of a late-‘90s boy band ballad.
It’s always good to hear Wilson reunited with his Beach Boys bandmates. Al Jardine adds some typically strong vocals on “What Ever Happened,” “The Right Time,” and “Sail Away,” and David Marks augments the first two with subtle but effective guitar lines. Another erstwhile Beach Boy, Blondie Chaplin, joins Wilson and Jardine on the jaunty “Sail Away,” but it’s easy to feel — especially after the scorching performances he continues to give of “Sail On, Sailor” and “Wild Honey” — that he’s being underused. Meanwhile, Wilson’s current backing band of talented singers and multi-instrumentalists continues to provide a strong foundation on every song, even the most forgettable.
Is No Pier Pressure a good album? There’s plenty of beauty sprinkled throughout, but the listener has to endure a lot of adult contemporary cheese and head-scratching moments to get to that beauty. In other words, it’s a latter-day Brian Wilson album, and it’s sure to keep Wilson’s fans talking — and arguing — for some time to come.
No Pier Pressure will be released by Capitol Records on April 7. Pre-order on iTunes and recieve “The Right Time” right now.
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Patrick McClure