The Beach Boys

Brian Wilson–era studio pop; Good Vibrations is the modular single.

Formed 1961. Early surf hits precede the studio peak: Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions treated the studio as instrument—theremin, bicycle bells, stacked vocals, sectional recording. Good Vibrations (1966) is the essential track here. Influence on Beatles’ late-60s studio work and later indie psych is documentary, not metaphor.