Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun

Brian Wilson kept us waiting for 40 years before he finally got out of the sandbox and completed “Smile”. Now ‘barely’ four years later he’s back again with “That Lucky Old Sun”, an album that does not evoke the same sense of surprise as “Smile” did in 2004 but is more than worth at least a couple of spins.

It’s as if time stood still on “That Lucky Old Sun” where Wilson paints a picture of a sunladen Southern California that hasn’t existed in quite some time. It’s still charming as hell though and listening to “Morning Beat” or “Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl” is like rediscovering The Beach Boys’ biggest hits while browsing through my dad’s record collection as a kid.

Okay, so I could’ve done without the narratives and even though the chorus in “Mexican Girls” is more than okay, it’ still a song that would be banned even on the Love Boat. But then there’s that instrumental reprise of “That Lucky Old Sun” and “Can’t Wait Too Long” that more than make up for a misstep or two elsewhere on the album.

Kitsch and beauty go hand in hand on this album and it may not all be fun fun fun when Wilson recalls his mental breakdown in the late sixties in “Going Home” (‘at 25, I turned out the light/'Cause I couldn't handle the glare in my tired eyes’) but in the end it does not take away from the fact that “That Lucky Old Sun” is basically one huge feelgood trip.
Score: 8 out of 10
http://www.capitolrecords.com
http://www.brianwilson.com