Pet Sounds Tribute To Be Released

I'm all for tribute albums. They keep the material fresh, give you insight into the chain of artistic influence, and you usually end up with a few gems. My all-time favorite is If I Were A Carpenter. I never knew the Carpenters' music growing up, but I got to know their brilliant songwriting (or songwriting done on their behalf) from this album. I really love Sonic Youth's take on "Superstar," Red Kross' "Yesterday Once More," and American Music Club's "Goodbye to Love." I think I wore that CD out.

Last year saw a tribute album to Rubber Soul, This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul. It's on the other end of the spectrum. I was really looking forward to it, and wanted to like it, but I just can't get behind it. For one, I don't really "get" The Fiery Furnaces.  I loved the poppy remix of "Tropical Ice-Land" from iTunes, but everything else I've heard from them is completely inaccessible, and their cover of "Norwegian Wood" is one of the worst things I've ever heard. It's the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot syndrome - I'm all for experimentalism, but at a point, you lose me.

So the grandaddy of experimental albums is now getting its overdue tribute. Pitchfork reports today that Do It Again: A Tribute To Pet Sounds will be out this fall. It's chockablock with indie bands who I would like to say I've heard of, but the fact of the matter is I can't be arsed to follow every band that shows up these days. I've heard of Architecture in Helsinki and Vic Chesnutt (he's the one that hung out with Peter Buck), but the others are pretty much unknown to me. Still, I can't wait for it.

I could start compiling my own version, but I'd never get any of the songs beyond Mandy Moore and Michael Stipe's cover of "God Only Knows" and They Might Be Giants' "Caroline, No".

Pet Sounds was for years my favorite album, but Brian Wilson's SMiLE is even better. I'd still put those two along with Rubber Soul and Revolver right there at the top. I don't see how they can ever be surpassed. I love a lot of what's out now, but as a medium, rock simply peaked in 1966.