5/7/2025 - Folk 'n Roll by Jan & Dean

 Being a life-long Beach Boys fan, Jan & Dean have always had a tiny presence in my life. Mostly for the fact that their song "Surf City" sounds almost exactly like an early Beach Boys song (hell, Brian Wilson even co-wrote it apparently!) I never really looked into them aside from that song in part because they never really evolved from their surf-pop roots like The Beach Boys did (unless there's a secret Jan & Dean prog rock album that I missed, in which case I urge you to point me to it.) That was until my friend told me about a folk album they did in 1965, which I thought was hilarious. Then, around a month ago I found a copy of it by complete chance!

And? It's one of the, though unintentionally, weirdest records I have ever listened to.

As the title suggests, Folk 'n Roll is a collection of mostly covers of contemporary folk rock songs by Jan & Dean, with the odd original sprinkled into the tracklist. For the most part, the covers they do are serviceable. There are some extremely cliche picks here (It Ain't Me Babe and Eve of Destruction to name a few. P.S. The Turtles did both of those way better the same year this came out!) and I really don't think they know what they're singing about - since one of the originals here, "The Universal Coward" is explicitly anti-counter culture & pro-Vietnam war.

In short, this album is poser shit. A cash-grab made by posers for posers.

ALSO! The Universal Coward isn't even the worst song here! That'd have to go to the parody of their own song - Folk City. Folk. City. FOLK CITY! FUCKING FOLK CITY! I don't know what to say about it. It's not even so bad it's good, it's just so bad. To quote the song:

"I've got a Hohner harmonica and a Vox 12-string / You know there's lots of protest songs that I wanna sing."

YOU SAY THAT LIKE YOU WEREN'T JUST SINGING ABOUT HOW PROTESTING IS STUPID TWO FUCKING SONGS AGO WILLIAM JAN BERRY.

I'm sorry. I just. I don't know, man. This album sucks. Every cover version on this god forsaken plastic disc has been done better by someone else and the originals are clearly not worth your time. If you're morbidly curious and stumble upon it in the dollar bin? Pick it up! It's a fun novelty I guess. Other than that, I would not recommend listening to it. 

Peace out, talk to you in a few months.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7/4/2025 - Chipmunk Punk

  Alvin and The Chipmunks are a strange thing. They were arguably the first fictional band, way before Gorillaz or even The Archies or The Monkees (I say with the utmost respect!) They were wildly successful in the early 1960s with their signature Christmas song & their cartoon, although it seems as though they fizzled out by the Summer of Love. Probably because Alvin’s a square & didn’t wanna burn his guitar on stage - but really, who knows… Despite that, The Chipmunks returned with a bang in the 80s with a buncha albums, a rad new show, & eventually a series of movies in the 2000s that would kick off the live action / CGI trend that’s appeared in many bad children’s movies since then. And that revival all started with this album, Chipmunk Punk. But why? Well… Picture yourself as a music fan in Los Angeles in early 1980. You’re tuned into your favorite rock station & you’re hoping the DJ plays the new single by Blondie. Wow, he does! Though he plays it at the wrong...
Read more

10/18/24 - Surfer Girl by The Beach Boys

  Ever since I was small The Beach Boys have played a sizable part in my life. I had an MP3 player loaded with, among a lot of other things, The Beach Boys’ greatest hits - and that was about as far as I went with the band for a while. That was until I started collecting physical media in 2019 and got Pet Sounds a little while later. I got into their early albums and it was like experiencing those songs for the first time again! One of those early albums I never really paid attention to though, was their third album Surfer Girl. Which is a shame because I enjoyed my listen today! My copy is a hand-me-down from my Dad. It’s a 2016 reissue on black vinyl. Surfer Girl has quite a few well-known songs on it! It opens with the title track, a ballad with beautiful harmonies and stellar production by Brian Wilson, who’s credited for production for the first time on this record! Those two aspects carry over to the rest of the album, which makes it a pleasant listen. The other stand-out tra...
Read more

2/26/25 - L.A. (Light Album) by The Beach Boys

If you couldn't tell by my last post, I've been on a Beach Boys kick recently. It's been a bit warmer this week, so I guess that's put me in the mood. Today's album, L.A., is one I actually haven't heard before today. I found it last month with Beach Boys '85, Love You, and The Beach Boys In Concert (the 70s one, not to be confused with the steaming piece of shit that is 1964's 'Beach Boys Concert.') Even though I hadn't listened to it before buying it, I picked it up for completionist's sake. It was only 5 bucks anyway. Though I'd argue that The Beach Boys didn't really get 'bad' until 1992's Summer In Paradise, L.A. I think represents the beginning of the end for the band. They're fully in their nostalgia yacht rock phase at this point, and side one is concrete proof of this. There's nothing bad about it, but there's nothing really of substance here. It's inoffensive as all get out and frankly kind of...
Read more