Despite revisionist history, the Beatles didn’t completely dominate 1960s pop music. Their influence had an undeniably long arm, but certain parts of California were too far for them to grasp. The Association, for example, seems to exist in an alternate universe where the British Invasion never happened and the Beach Boys took on the Beatles’ mantel as Biggest Band in the World.
Which isn’t to say the Association is just a Pet Sounds-alike at all. Rather, they are a respectable contemporary, like The Who to the Beatles. This compilation is woven with beautiful sunshine pop colors like melodic bass lines, warm swells of strings, bright guitars, and, of course, enormous vocal harmonies. For someone who often yearns for more chamber pop as beautiful as the Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, this pick out of a curbed collection is a godsend.