#8 Little Deuce Coupe

Just three weeks after Surfer Girl, The Beach Boys were back with their fourth studio album: Little Deuce Coupe. But was this hot-rod-themed LP simply a rushed cash-in, or is there more going on beneath the bonnet?

Harry and Andy return to 1963 to explore an album that often gets overlooked in the Beach Boys' catalogue. From the surprisingly moving Ballad of Ole' Betsy and the infectious No-Go Showboat to the haunting A Young Man Is Gone, there's plenty of evidence that Brian Wilson's songwriting and arranging were developing at an extraordinary pace.

Along the way, we explore America's obsession with cars and school spirit, check in with our old friends Jan & Dean, the origins of Little Saint Nick, and Mike Love's apparently unparalleled gift for lyrical subtlety.

Is Little Deuce Coupe an opportunistic stopgap, or an underrated chapter in the Beach Boys' remarkable evolution?

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