Uncanny

WORLDMAG

STRAIGHT "Some listeners...might be left to ask whether it wouldn’t be nice (and certainly more instructive) to try and recreate the Beach Boys at their shittiest, rather than their best. Which young band of brave adventurers is up for using 'Kokomo' as their song template, or the weedy and brain-dead protest song 'Student Demonstration Time'? We all want to be Brian Wilson, but it takes real vision to be as terminally crap as Mike Love."

MACLEANS

WICKED LOCAL “People have been influenced by Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, but they end up putting their own stuff in their songs,” says frontman and songwriter Jason Brewer. “We’re kind of purists. We’re trying to do a continuation of that sound from the ’60s.”

“I think the resurgence of vinyl has helped us out. I’m inspired by all these groups from that era and those are the old records people are buying. And with our band, they can actually hear that sound live.”

“The first song I wrote for this band was ‘Forever’ and it was just a kind of experiment. I was going for a Beach Boys, Ronettes sort of thing and when I was done, it was a pretty catchy song. People don’t sit down and write a pop song or capture a sound anymore. I grew up on ’50s and ’60s music and when I was a kid, you could turn on the oldies station and hear those songs. You don’t hear the Beach Boys on commercial radio anymore, which is a shame because there could be this whole generation of people who are missing out on rock ‘n’ roll.”

“I wanna do a really great rock and roll album with well-thought out songs. And the second half will be stripped back with some other surprises. I’m not going to say there will be a lot of crooning, but I’d love to have something crazy, really odd horns. The sky’s the limit.”

NASHVILLE CITY PAPER

BRIAN MAY

MYSPACE

DURANGO HERALD

POPMATTERS

PLUG IN MUSIC

SPENCER DAILY REPORTER

CHARLESTON POST & COURIER

CHARLESTON CITY PAPER "There's no one out there making the kind of records that I enjoy listening to — or that my parents, grandparents, and all my friends would like," says singer/guitarist Jason Brewer, the main songwriter and arranger of local pop-rock band The Explorers Club. "The thing is, The Association, The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector — they're not making records anymore. Sure, it's true that The Explorers Club catch some flak for sounding too much like The Beach Boys, but take this into consideration: This is our first record and we're not seasoned artists. I wanted to do a record that was of a certain sound."

"A lot of people do something to capture a certain sound — a sound that no one does anymore. It wasn't like doing a tribute. It's more of a continuation of something that kind of dies out."

"I played a lot of acoustic guitar, piano, and organ. I let Dave [Ellis] and Jim [Faust] do a lot of that tremolo guitar stuff and banjos and all. They're really good at it. I can illustrate the parts that I wanted, and they were able to put it across. Matt had a lot of really great ideas for the drums. We'd listen to some Beach Boys records, then we'd listen to some Elton John records, then some Beatles and Paul McCartney records ... then some Spector stuff to get some ideas."

"Matt [Goldman] knew how to get the good sounds without having to process it or to use ProTools to replace tracks or whatever. It was all real natural."

"When we did 'Forever,' it just turned out so well and people really responded positively. We put it online, and people loved it. A few record labels even contacted us. After I decided to form a group, I was like, 'Okay, let's form a Spector/Beach Boys-style band,' and I tried to incorporate all of those sounds."

LEGACY