The Beach Boys
Doin’ It Again (UME)In an uncertain world, it’s comforting to know Mike Love continues ruining things for everybody. After the surviving Beach Boys reunited to reverse decades of embarrassing returns with this summer’s That’s Why God Made the Radio and a 50th anniversary tour, Love resumed touring this fall alongside Bruce Johnston and the state fair permutation of the band. Though he may not have actually fired Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and David Marks, Love had no problem allowing the subsequent concerts to be promoted as if they were still part of the reunion tour. Doin’ It Again was completed prior to the Wilson/Love split, but it can’t help being seen through that not-so-rose-colored lens. The documentary’s paltry 55-minute length reinforces the corner-cutting veneer, while only six full songs from the reunion tour are included. The historical hook is rare black-and-white film of the “Good Vibrations” sessions, but most of the footage has been out for years. Interviews boast occasional revelations amid the old hash, like Marks providing insight into matriarch Audree Wilson’s contribution to the Beach Boys and Johnston retelling a funny story about the late Dennis Wilson’s adventures in a gold mine. Ultimately, though, you’re left wanting more of everything.
This article appears in December 21 • 2012.
