The Explorers Club - Freedom Wind

Here at The Heavy Hint when we hear of a band that likes the Beach Boys and then proceeds to release a 12-song disc that runs all of 35 minutes, we get pretty excited. We start to think short pop tunes, harmonies, lyrics about girls, etc.… and that’s a good thing, right?

Sure it’s a good thing. But then you get about three tracks into Freedom Wind, the first LP from The Explorers Club, and you realize that these guys like the Beach Boys maybe a bit too much. It’s all here, folks: the production, the lyrical content, the harmonies, and even the song titles sound like their lifted directly from some unreleased box set. Heck, the disc kicks off with the drumbeat from “Be My Baby” that Brian Wilson famously borrowed from Mr. Spector and used on “Don’t Worry, Baby.”

Despite this, there is clearly some talent behind this project. It’s rather amazing when you realize that these songs were NOT written by the Beach Boys. The Explorers Club’s ability to emulate their every move is impressive, if not a little Single White Female. You have to imagine what sort of attention would behold a band that came along sounding just like Led Zeppelin, and essentially writing new Zep tunes. Some folks would love it, most would not.

In many ways, we get it. We’ve all loved bands and wanted to recreate their every move, but we always thought the idea was to take that influence and do something new with it.

Band Site | MySpace