Stream a Beach Boys Spotify playlist curated by Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs, Nightlands)

The Beach Boys made their mark in the mid-sixties with pop hits like “God Only Knows” and “California Girls” but War on Drugs bass player and Nightlands main man Dave Hartley is here to tell us why the band’s real genius didn’t show itself until later on.  From Dave:

The Beach Boys are much more than the just Pet Sounds and Surf-Car-Girl party songs. Here are twelve strange and beautiful songs that came after.”

In a Spotify playlist he created for his bands’ label Secretly Canadian, Hartley handpicks his favorite Beach Boys tracks from albums including 1967’s Smiley Smile, 1970’s Sunflower, 1971’s Surf’s Up and more.  Stream the playlist below and read Dave’s thoughts on each track in a cut-by-cut here.  He also discussed his favorite Beach Boys era in a recent What’s In My Bag episode, which you can watch here.  The War on Drugs return to Philadelphia for two end-of-the-year shows at Johnny Brenda’s in December.  Nightlands will release a new record called Oak Island on January 22nd.